The reviews are in for the $180 million production of The Golden Compass, and they’re lackluster at best, which is a pity not just for fans of the novel from which it’s adapted but for New Line Cinema, which was banking on another Lord of the Rings cash cow. Times critic Manohla Dargis calls it flawed and cluttered, although her description of Nicole Kidman ought to sway any dudes reluctant to see a movie starring......

Have you seen Sex and the City filming around town? Seems like some people are watching the cast of the 'ol show film the new movie every step of the way. The Times chronicled the madness and, OMG, talked to Carrie Bradshaw herself (who was hiding away in the basement of the Bryant Park Hotel). She had this to say of her on-the-job craziness: “I basically just look down between every take because it’s......

The holiday-time movie releases are starting to pile up with their usual feverish frequency. Some have Christmas themes, like the widely reviled Vince Vaughn vehicle Fred Claus that’s already roadkill on the lost highway of cinema history; others, like Ridley Scott’s American Gangster, are timed to make an impression as close to Academy Award-voting season as possible. Here are some of the biggest gorillas set to dominate New York’s screens in the next six......

Back in May we asked what you thought of a Sex and the City movie, 51% of you thought it was coming three years too late. Whether we like it or not, the movie is going to happen - after Kim Cattrall finally signed on. Word is that she wanted a higher salary and a deal for a future HBO show, both of which she got. Guess her post-Samantha days haven't been filled with great......

In advance of an official press conference at The Palace Theater today, The Times and The Post have reported that Spike Lee will be make his Broadway debut next spring with the 1951 play Stalag 17; a dramedy about camaraderie and betrayal between American airmen stuck in a German P.O.W camp (later made into a film by Billy Wilder.) Sources say that Clive Owen will once again be Spike’s inside man on the project. (Though......

After inserting a DVD of an episode in the NY Times magazine a week or so ago, HBO is continuing the full court to press to convince people that period teeth and questionable hygiene in the Wild West are worth watching (and there's some stuff about good and evil). A shuttle train between Times Square and Grand Central will be decorated with "fake wood, tiles and even faux cushions to look like western-saloon train cars,"......

This week The Ethicist takes a question from a man posted in Vietnam who buys bootlegged copies of DVDs because "legitimate copies" are mostly unavailable in his area. Under such circumstances, is it ethical to buy pirated movies? If the man pays a monthly fee to a video rental service such as Netflix in order to make sure the studios get a little money, is he in the clear? Cohen heads down the right track,......

Middle Earth Shuttle
Is it a good idea to have a Lord of the Rings "Middle Earth Shuttle" in the New York City subway?
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Today, the eagerly-anticipated film Will-Ferrell-as-elf film, Elf, opens. Gothamist enjoyed this sweet and funny film (maybe sweeter than we'd anticipated, but still, some choice hilarious moments - go to the movie website, go to "Inner Elf" for "Elf videos" and watch any or all of the clips). We look forward to watching it on afternoons when we're blue and being cheered up by a Will Ferrell triple bill of Dick, Old School, and Elf.......

After being caught in development hell for three years, it looks like Dave Eggers' autobiography, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, is on its way to the big screen. Universal Pictures is picking up rights to the book from New Line, and Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry) will be developing the project. Interestingly, Nick Hornby and D.V. DeVincentis (screenwriter of Grosse Pointe Blank, High Fidelity) adapted the book. If the NBC-Vivendi Universal merger goes through,......