Which film follies were not just dramatically anemic, but memorably cash-poor as well? In alphabetical order, as detailed by Variety:— All the King's Men ($7 million domestic gross versus a $55 million production budget, and despite an all-star cast)— Sharon Stone's Basic Instinct 2 ($5 million versus $70 mil)— Flushed Away ($61 mil versus $150 mil, though I cannot imagine it's any worse an animated film than Happy Feet, which my sons and I barely endured on Sunday afternoon. Subtle message that kids' film has.)— Flyboys ($13 mil versus $60 mil)— Hugh Jackman's The Fountain ($9 mil versus $53 mil)— Freedomland ($12 mil, despite a cast that included Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore and Edie Falco)— Russell Crowe's A Good Year ($7 mil, hampered by misguided marketing)— Lady in the Water ($42 mil versus $75 mil and a slew of critical barbs aimed at M. Night Shyamalan)— Poseidon ($60 mil versus $160 mil)— The Wicker Man (a $23 mil take ...
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What, if anything, do Star Wars, Mission: Impossible, and Jaws have in common?
What is the formula for blockbuster-movie success? And how does it differ from the recipe for disaster? Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs and Blockbusters, an HBO documentary premiering tonight at 9 pm/ET — and based on the new book Boffo! How I Learned to Love the Blockbuster and Fear the Bomb, by Variety editor-in-chief and former studio exec Peter Bart — explores those much-asked questions by way of A-list talking heads and fantastic clips from films both great and... so-so.
Bart says that — especially as cohost of AMC's Sunday Morn
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What, if anything, do Star Wars, Mission: Impossible, and Jaws have in common?
What is the formula for blockbuster-movie success? And how does it differ from the recipe for disaster? The new book Boffo! How I Learned to Love the Blockbuster and Fear the Bomb, by Variety editor-in-chief and former studio exec Peter Bart, explores those much-asked questions, as does an accompanying HBO documentary, Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs and Blockbusters, premiering June 29 and featuring almost as many A-list talking heads as fantastic clips from films both great and... so-so.
Bart says that — especially as cohost of AMC's Sunday
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Kevin Dillon, Entourage
Real life has been just as exciting as reel life for Kevin Dillon, who over the past six weeks has tied the knot with model-actress Jane Stuart as well as welcomed the arrival of their first child, a daughter named Ava. Now the proud pop has a third season of HBO's Entourage (premiering this Sunday at 10 pm/ET) to deliver. TVGuide.com chatted with the veteran actor the day after the show's Wednesday-night premiere screening in NYC.
TVGuide.com: First off, congratulations on the wedding and the child!
Dillon: Oh, thank you! It really is amazing.
TVGuide.com: How is little Ava doing?
Dillon: She's doing great. She's an amazing little girl.
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It started with a bang: Uncle Junior popping Tony in a fit of dementia. But most of the fireworks in this brilliant sixth season of The Sopranos have been more emotional than visceral, a psychologically riveting study of the corruption (of soul and spirit) that taints anyone within whacking distance.
That long list includes poor Gene, the hit man who hanged himself; hapless Artie Bucco, whose restaurant and psyche are in tatters; jailed Johnny Sack, whose daughter's wedding ended in his tearful public humiliation and loss of esteem; and Tony's delinquent son A.J., who can't live up to anyone's expectations and whose attempted revenge hit on Junior was truly pathetic (the kid can't even vomit like a man).
"It's not in your nature," Tony told A.J. in one of the season's many wrenching scenes of anguish and regret.
Not that there hasn't been comic rel
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