The creator of “The Simpsons”, Matt Groening has finally revealed (to Smithsonian Magazine), after 25 years of keeping it a secret, that The Simpsons live in Springfield…Oregon. He says “Springfield was named after Springfield, Oregon. The only reason is that when I was a kid, the TV show “Father Knows Best” took place in the […]

So a compromise has been reached between The Weinstein Company and the MPAA. “Bully”‘s rating has officially been changed to PG-13, meaning teenagers will be able to see the movie in theaters without an adult and schools will be able to show it to students. Obviously I am happy that this very important documentary will […]

Awards season is supposed to be over, but you wouldn’t know it from this past weekend. The 25th Kids Choice Awards were “slime-tacular” on Saturday night, the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Razzie Awards were presented on Sunday and, personally, I attended (and presented) at the 55th annual NY Emmy Award Sunday night. […]

“The Hunger Games” huge $155 million opening weekend is the third-highest opening of all-time, right behind “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2” ($169.2M) and “The Dark Knight” ($158.4M). The movie shattered expectations and predictions (including mine). Here are some other accomplishments and records it has broken: – Highest opening weekend for a […]

It’s “Let “The Games” begin” Weekend! “The Hunger Games” is set to open on Friday – but already the film is setting box office records: – 15th largest # of theaters (over 4,000) for an opening. – Largest pre-sale for a non-sequel in movie history With over 2000 screening already sold out (as of Wednesday […]

I’ve been writing this for years, (so accuse me for being repetitive) but the problem isn’t getting any better: Where is the originality among Hollywood movie studios? Just look at this past year’s Best Picture Oscar nominees: 6 of them were based on novels (including “War Horse”, which is also a play). Only three were […]

I’ve gotten to see the new documentary, “Bully” (opening March 30th). The film is getting a lot of attention for two reasons: 1) It focuses on the important topic of bullying in schools and communities around the country. 2) It’s been given an ‘R’ rating by the MPAA for “some language”, and the ‘R’ rating […]

News of the sequels front: – “Journey 3” is already in the works. New Line Cinema announcing that the third installment in the series will come-out in 2014. The story will center around the Jules Verne book From the Earth to the Moon, which appears in the final scene of “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.” […]

Last summer, when I interviewed him before the release of “Winnie the Pooh”, Tom Kenny mentioned that there were discussions underway about the making of another SpongeBob SquarePants movie. Happily those discussions have turned into plans, with the announcement that there will be a “SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 2”, scheduled to be released in late 2014. […]

What a Night! The 84th annual Academy Awards were full of laughs and surprises: – Billy Crystal was great with hilarious one-liners, including re-naming the Kodak Theatre the “Chapter 11 Theatre” and the “Your Name Here” theatre; His musical number was good but the music overpowered him; He will return next year – “The Artist” […]