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Hulu is kicking off 2025 with a bang by adding tons of new content for subscribers starting January 1. From popular movies like American Psycho, Heat, and John Wick to new series like Goosebumps: The Vanishing, there’s plenty to check out.

Here’s the full list of movies and TV shows coming to Hulu in January 2025:

January 1 Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2025: Special Premiere Kids Diana Show: Let’s Celebrate Together: Complete Season 1 Papa Jake: Epic Box Forts: Complete Season 1 After Earth (2013) American Psycho (2000) The Devil’s Own (1997) The Devil’s Own En Español (1997) Dirty Grandpa (2016) Empire Records (1995) Ender’s Game (2013) The Great Debaters (2007) Heat (1995) Insidious (2011) Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) Insidious: Chapter 2 En Español (2013) Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015) Insidious: Chapter 3 En Español (2015) The Intouchables (2011) John Wick (2014) John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) John Wick: Chapter 3 (2019) The King Of Comedy (1983) Little Manhattan (2005) Man of the House (2005) Man Of The House...

Hulu is starting 2025 strong as the platform will add a lot of new content for its subscribers starting January 1. From movies like American Psycho, Heat, and John Wick to new series like Goosebumps: The Vanishing, Hulu is bringing A Lot to watch.

Here’s every movie & TV show releasing on Hulu in January 2025:

January 1 Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2025: Special Premiere Kids Diana Show: Let’s Celebrate Together: Complete Season 1 Papa Jake: Epic Box Forts: Complete Season 1 After Earth (2013) American Psycho (2000) The Devil’s Own (1997) The Devil’s Own En Español (1997) Dirty Grandpa (2016) Empire Records (1995) Ender’s Game (2013) The Great Debaters (2007) Heat (1995) Insidious (2011) Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) Insidious: Chapter 2 En Español (2013) Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015) Insidious: Chapter 3 En Español (2015) The Intouchables (2011) John Wick (2014) John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) John Wick: Chapter 3 (2019) The King Of Comedy (1983) Little Manhattan (2005) Man of the House (2005) Man Of The House...

Ah, January. A new year, a clean slate, a fresh chance to… do what you’ve always done, maybe? Not that we at IndieWire don’t encourage personal growth, but we do support you if you decide to spend a lot of this month recovering from the holidays and melting into your couch in front of a watchlist.

On Disney+, that means new episodes of “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” and the premiere of “Goosebumps: The Vanishing.” If you’re into creepy crawlies.

Hulu will keep things busy as always with next-day premieres of network shows on ABC and Fox, including the new series “Going Dutch” starring Denis Leary and “Will Trent” Season. The streamer will continue to release standup under the banner “Hularious,” this time with the special “Roy Wood Jr.: Lonely Flowers.” On the originals side, look out for “Whiskey on the Rocks” set in Sweden during the Cold War,...

On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.

First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.

Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.

The Pitch: Fall in Love with Love (and New York City)

You never forget your first crush. Life and love grow so complicated as we get older, but those early butterflies, stolen glances, and fleeting interactions are so easily romanticized in the rearview, relics of a bygone innocence and who we used to be. No matter what follows, the first stirrings of a crush are full of promise and excitement — even if you feel a bit like you’re going to explode.

I was on my second or third crush when I...

Austin Butler auditioned for Peeta in The Hunger Games but didn't get the role. Butler's career took off later with roles in Elvis, Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood, and Dune: Part Two. Butler's non-Hunger Games role helped avoid typecasting and offered a diverse career.

Actor Austin Butler reveals what role in The Hunger Games he auditioned for over a decade ago. Butler is having a big year in 2024, having already played roles in the majorly successful series Masters of the Air as well as villain Feyd Rautha in Dune: Part Two. This weekend, he makes his debut in The Bikeriders, a crime drama film starring him, Jodie Comer, Michael Shannon, and Tom Hardy. The Bikeriders reviews have been mostly positive so far, and have included praise for Butler's leading performance.

Speaking on BuzzFeed Celeb, Butler reveals what Hunger Games character he auditioned for.

According to the actor,...

Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson reveals he almost landed a major role in a Home Alone movie, but ultimately faced rejection. Despite missing out on Home Alone, Hutcherson's career has thrived, scoring notable roles and gaining attention for his advocacy and genuine personality. Hutcherson's current and upcoming projects include The Beekeeper and a possible sequel to Five Nights at Freddy's, proving that his career didn't suffer from the loss of Home Alone.

One of the Home Alone movies nearly cast a Hunger Games star in a major role, likely Kevin McCallister. Starting in 1990, the franchise is best known for following Macaulay Culkin as Kevin, an eight-year-old troublemaker who gets left behind in his Chicago home while his family travels to Paris for Christmas. While stuck at home, he must protect his house from a pair of cat burglars who intend on robbing it. Home Alone became a pop culture phenomenon,...

January is here and Hulu is rolling out the red carpet all month long! The streamer is heading into the new month (and the new year) with several specials, including the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, the 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Special, and “The Golden Bachelor” wedding special, “The Golden Wedding.”

But Hulu will also debut several major new series and films, including its all-new murder mystery series “Death and Other Details” and the new Marvel series “Echo,” which will be available to watch on both Hulu and Disney+.

See The Streamable’s top picks for what’s new this month, and find out everything coming to Hulu in January!

30-Day Free Trial $7.99+ / month hulu.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Hulu in January 2024? 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Special | Tuesday, Jan. 2

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame celebrates its new class...

As the aftereffects of the writers’ and actors’ strikes hit streaming in a big way, there’s not a lot of new content to offer subscribers early in 2024. Hulu still has some interesting things to offer in January, though.

The biggest new Hulu Original series in the new year is Death and Other Details, a locked room murder mystery starring Mandy Patinkin as Rufus Cotesworth, who is said to be the world’s greatest detective – at least in this universe. In the new series, Cotesworth comes to the rescue when an unfortunate soul is killed on lavish Mediterranean ocean liner, and he has to team up with the prime suspect (Violett Beane) to solve the crime.

The big Original movie premiere in January is Self Reliance, which follows a middle-aged dude (Jake Johnson) who gets randomly invited into a limo by Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Andy Samberg, and is soon offered...

Since its release in 2012, the Hunger Games cast has gone on to more success in other movie and television roles thanks to the boost that the YA adaptation gave to their careers. Based on the novels by Suzanne Collins, the Hunger Games movies consist of four main installments plus a prequel out in 2023. Before movies like Allegiant signaled a decline in the YA craze, The Hunger Games contributed greatly to the popularity of the teen-centric dystopian sci-fi subculture in the 2010s.

Centered around the titular post-apocalyptic tournament, the first Hunger Games movie introduces a futuristic version of the United States called Panem, which is divided into 13 districts. Each Hunger Games district is known for specific resources and the “tributes” they send to the annual contest, including franchise protagonist Katniss Everdeen. The movie also presents the tyrannical rulers who control Panem and dictate its rules, such as President Snow. These characters...

Hello, dear readers! This week’s batch of horror and sci-fi home media releases has a lot of fun offerings, both new and old. If you’re looking to catch up on some recent genre entertainment, there are plenty of options headed to both Blu-ray and DVD this Tuesday, including Wyrmwood: Apocalypse, Death Valley, Kicking Blood, and Slasher: Flesh and Bone. Scream Factory is also giving both The Craft and Escape From New York the 4K treatment this week, and if you’re looking for some cult titles, both Girls Nite Out and Without Warning are headed to Blu-ray on May 17th as well.

The Craft: Collector’s Edition 4K

Sarah has always been different. So as the newcomer at St. Benedict's Academy, she immediately falls in with high school outsiders. But there's something different about her new friends, and it's not just that they won't settle for being a group of powerless misfits.

Willie Garson, one of the most familiar faces of Sex & and the City, has died.

Garson, best known for playing Stanford Blanch on the HBO series, passed away on Tuesday.

He was 57 years old. A cause of death has not been revealed, but TMZ shared the actor had been battling cancer.

The sad news was revealed by Garson's son, Nathen.

"I love you so much papa," Nathen wrote on Instagram on September 21.

"Rest In Peace and I'm so glad you got to share all your adventures with me and were able to accomplish so much.

"I'm so proud of you. "I will always love you, but I think it's time for you to go on an adventure of your own."

"You'll always be with me. Love you more than you will ever know and I'm glad you can be at peace now.

"You always were the toughest and funniest and smartest person I've known.

Willie Garson, an actor best known for playing Stanford Blatch on “Sex and the City” and Mozzie on “White Collar,” has died. He was 57.

A family member of Garson’s confirmed his death to Variety. The cause was not immediately disclosed.

In HBO’s wildly popular “Sex and the City” series, Garson portrayed talent agent Stanford, the witty and stylish best male friend of Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker). Garson reprised the role in the franchise’s films, “Sex and the City” and “Sex and the City 2,” and had recently been filming HBO Max’s upcoming revival series, “And Just Like That.”

“The ‘Sex and the City’ family has lost one of its own. Our amazing Willie Garson,” Michael Patrick King, the executive producer of “Satc” and “And Just Like That,” said in a statement. “His spirit and his dedication to his craft was present every day filming ‘And Just Like That.

HBO Max is out with its list of everything coming and going from the new streaming service, and the list includes the 2019 film “Harriet” starring Cynthia Erivo as Harriet Tubman.

The HBO Originals coming next month include season four of “Room 104,” HBO Europe’s “Foodie Love,” and documentaries like “Stockton on My Mind” and “Showbiz Kids.” Other films joining include “Motherless Brooklyn,” “Midway,” and “Last Christmas.”

Leaving at the end of the month are “Aquamarine,” “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Long Shot,” “Crimson Peak,” “The Sun Is Also a Star” and “X-Men.”

Also Read: iHeartMedia, WarnerMedia to Co-Produce Companion Podcasts for HBO Max Shows

Here is the full list of everything new and leaving in July:

July 1

Absolute Power, 1997

The Adventures of Pinocchio, 1996

The Amazing Panda Adventure, 1995

American Graffiti, 1973 (HBO)

American History X, 1998

Angels in the Outfield, 1951

Angus, 1995

August Rush, 2007

The Bachelor, 1999

Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, 1998

Batman and Harley Quinn , 2017

Batman vs.

HBO Max is set to enter into its second month of existence. And you know what that means: it’s Christmas in July!

HBO Max’s list of new releases for July 2020 is highlighted by one prominent Christmas movie: last year’s Emilia Clarke-starring Last Christmas. But the real cause for Christmas in July is all the exciting animated DC content coming our way on the first of the month. July 1 sees the arrival of just about every animated Batman project ever created. July 1 also features the arrival of just about every Justice League animated series ever created as well.

If that weren’t enough, July 1 is also when every live-action Superman movie (save for Man of Steel) makes it streaming debut. July is starting to look like a month where HBO Max establishes its real potential and geek culture bonafides…despite an at-times difficult rollout.

The HBO original...

When HBO Max launched last month, DC fans hoped it would be the premiere place to go to watch all their favorite DC content. While the streaming service did have an impressive array of films and TV shows available on launch, there were a lot of notable missing titles, too, due to pre-existing licenses getting in the way. As time goes on, though, more DC properties will end up on the site. Case in point: this July will see a whole heap of superhero content go up on HBO Max.

Below you can find the full list of every movie and TV series coming to HBO Now, Go and Max next month, broken down by day of release. It includes an enormous amount of DC animated movies, mostly featuring Batman, the Justice League and Green Lantern. All of the Christopher Reeve Superman films will be up on HBO Max as of July,...

Mubi will be exclusively showing El Futuro April 11 - May 10 and Androids Dream April 12 - May 11, 2016 . From this very moment, I want to appeal to the political forces, the institutions, the autonomous regions, provincial and local councils, unions, business corporations, the media, and to every sector of national daily life so they feel integrated and support this collective mission: to consolidate democracy in Spain and to overcome the economic crisis… No citizen should feel alienated by this beautiful mission of modernization, progress, and solidarity.—Felipe González, Spanish general election victory speech, 1982 Silence. It flashed from the woodwork and the walls; it smote him with an awful, total power, as if generated by a vast mill. It rose from the floor, up out of the tattered gray wall-to-wall carpeting. It unleashed itself from the broken and semi-broken appliances in the kitchen, the dead machines which hadn’t worked in all the time Isidore had lived here.

"Welcome to Hollywood, kid." Leave it to Jimmy Kimmel to offer a warm introduction to the heartland of American entertainment. During an interview with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2's Josh Hutcherson Tuesday night, the late-night talk show host rehashed the first time he met the blockbuster star on his show back in 2005. At just 13 years old, Hutcherson was a newbie in the film industry, but had began starring in a string of hits including Little Manhattan and Zathura: A Space Adventure, so the comedian offered him a helpful gift.  "Do you remember what you did?" Hutcherson asked. "You didn't tell me where babies came from, but you did give me a fake...

April 21st is another big day for genre fans looking to add to their home entertainment collections, as we’ve got a bounty of titles heading our way this Tuesday. The good folks over at Scream Factory are keeping busy with the release of several great Blu-rays, including their Collector’s Edition of John Carpenter’s Escape From New York and their Ghoulies double feature. Joe Lynch’s Everly and the film fest sensation A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night are also making their way to Blu-ray and DVD this week, and we’ve got a Ton of indie titles arriving Tuesday to look forward to, including the latest from the great Jeffrey Combs, Motivational Growth.

Escape from New York (Collector’s Edition) (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)

A thrilling landmark film that jolts along at a breakneck pace, Escape From New York leapt to cult status with high-octane action, edge-of-your-seat...

“Snake Plissken… I’ve heard of you. I heard you were dead.” Scream Factory's out to prove The Duke of New York City wrong with the resurrection of Kurt Russell's awesome anti-hero in their Escape From New York Collector’s Edition Blu-ray that hits shelves on April 21st with 2k digital restoration and a bunch of bonus features. Ahead of its release, we have a couple of clips and two trailers from the Blu-ray that show off the film's high-definition upgrade.

"A thrilling landmark film that jolts along at a breakneck pace, Escape From New York leapt to cult status with high-octane action, edge-of-your-seat suspense and the mind-blowing vision of lone warrior Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) battling his way out of a post-apocalyptic Manhattan!

In a world ravaged by crime, the entire island of Manhattan has been converted into a walled prison where brutal prisoners roam. But when the...

“Snake Plissken… I’ve heard of you. I heard you were dead.” Scream Factory's out to prove The Duke of New York City wrong with the resurrection of Kurt Russell's awesome anti-hero in their Escape From New York Collector’s Edition Blu-ray that hits shelves on April 21st, complete with 2k digital restoration. Last month, Scream Factory debuted the cover art for the new release of John Carpenter's 1981 cult classic, and now they've unveiled the Blu-ray's bountiful bonus features, including a new audio commentary with actress Adrienne Barbeau and directory of photography Dean Cundey, additional interviews with the crew, and much more:

Press Release - "Los Angeles, CA – Scream Factory has announced the April 21, 2015 release of John Carpenter’s Escape From New York (Collector’s Edition) on Blu-ray. The new edition of the 1981 cult classic starring Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Season Hubley,...

Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson is only 22 years old, but his Hollywood rise began more than a decade ago. We're taking a look back at Josh's rather impressive career (so far!)

We first met Josh back in 2003, when the 10-year-old actor landed major back-to-back roles in the animated features Howl's Moving Castle and The Polar Express.

In 2005, he nabbed his first big-screen starring roles in the adventure film Zathura, and the young love story Little Manhattan, where Josh experienced a big "first" on set with co-star Charlie Ray.

Watch: Jennifer Lawrence Reveals Pranks on 'Mockinjay' Set

"My first kiss was on this shoot actually – in front of the entire crew, which is really nerve-racking because everybody’s standing around," said Josh. "It's sort of cool because the first take we did, I was like shaking and my voice was trembling. I think it worked out really good, because it was really real."

In 2007, he...

It was announced today that Grindstone Entertainment has acquired North American rights in all media to the gritty thriller Once Upon A Time In Brooklyn (formally titled Goat) and will be released by Lionsgate Home Entertainment. In a separate deal, International rights have been acquired by Los Angeles-basedsales company, Recreation, helmed by founder and president Ariel Veneziano.

Produced by William DeMeo, Paul Borghese and newcomer Robyn K Bennett, written by DeMeo and Borghese who also directs the movie, Once Upon A Time In Brooklyn stars Golden Globe nominated and Emmy Award winning actor Armand Assante (American Gangster, HBO’s Gotti), Ice-t (New Jack City), Vincent Pastore (Goodfellas), Ja Rule (The Fast And The Furious), William DeMeo (The Sopranos), Cathy Moriaty (Raging Bull) and Paul Borghese (Transamerica).

The film tells the story of Bobby Baldano, who after serving several prison sentences, is finally out. Although desperate to honor his family who...

Editor Alan Edward Bell began his career in the late ’80s, working first as an assistant editor (Heathers, Lord of the Flies, Misery, A Few Good Men) and then, a decade later, as editor on a string of both independent and studio films including Little Manhattan, The Story of Us, Water for Elephants and (500) Days of Summer. It was the latter film that connected Bell with director Marc Webb, and the two recently completed their second project together — The Amazing Spider-Man. Below I talk to Bell about cutting a blockbuster, 3D, the Avid, Final Cut Pro, how multiple editors work together on movies and what advice he’d give to a young editor beginning today. We’re joined at one point by his first assistant editor, Jennifer Vecchiarello.

Filmmaker: The Amazing Spider-Man seems to be the first tentpole film that you’ve been involved with. How did you land in this world?...

Josh Hutcherson has been acting since the tender age of nine, with “Little Manhattan, “Bridge to Terabithia,” and “Zathura” serving as some of his earlier work. These days Hutcherson is stretching his wings with such diverse work in “The Kids Are All Right” and most recently “The Hunger Games.” Now 19, Hutcherson credits the intense 1999 thriller Fight Club as a movie that inspired him to be an actor.

The Hunger Games is still in theaters and he starts shooting the film’s sequel, Catching Fire, later this summer. Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/Foxallaccess

Follow us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com...

Here’s the latest releases on Xbox LIve Arcade and the Zune Marketplace. From new games like Amy and Scary Girl to downloadable versions of classics such as GTA IV, the new releases this week feature something for everyone!

Xbox Live Arcade Release Date Ms Points Amy (Namco) 11th January 2012 800 Choplifter HD (Konami) 11th January 2012 1200 Scarygirl (Square Enix) 18th January 2012 800 Haunt (Microsoft Studios) 18th January 2012 800 Doom (Bethesda) (re-release) 18th January 2012 400 Game Add-ons Release Date Ms Points Kinect Sports: Season 2 Midnight Mountain Ski Pack (Microsoft Studios) 10th January 2012 400 Worms Ultimate Mayhem Multi-Player Add-on (Microsoft Studios) 11th January 2012 400 Magic the Gathering 2012: Deck Expansion Pack 3 (Microsoft Studios) 11th January 2012 240 Gears of War 3 Fenix Rising Map Pack (Microsoft Studios) 17th January 2012 800 Saints Row The Third Genkibowl VII (Thq) 17th January 2012 560 Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 – 2012 Weight Control (Ubisoft) 17th January 2012 400 Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 – Cool Down Pack (Ubisoft) 17th January 2012 320 Your Shape Fitness Evolved...

It’s the 12 days of Xbox! Celebrate the Countdown to 2012 with a special offer from Xbox Live everyday! Don’t miss out as these special discounts won’t last. Highlights this month include Sonic CD, the Gears of War 3 Dlc Raam’s Shadow Campaign, and 50% off some awesome Japanese shumps, including Bangai O and Radiant Silvergun…

Xbox Live Arcade Release Date Ms Points Joe Danger Special Edition (Microsoft Studios) 14-Dec 1200 Sonic CD (Sega) 14-Dec 400 Trine 2 (Atlus) 21-Dec 1200 Game Add-ons Release Date Ms Points Gears of War 3 Raam’s Shadow Campaign Expansion (Microsoft Studios) 13-Dec 1200 Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand (Electronic Arts) 13-Dec 1200 Assassin’s Creed Revelations Ancestors Character Pack (Ubisoft) 13-Dec 320 Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 Bundle #1: Back in Shape: Lose it + Jump Rope: Survival Mode (Ubisoft) 13-Dec 560 Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 Dlc 1: Back in Shape: Lose It (Ubisoft) 13-Dec 400 Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 Dlc 2: Jump Rope...

Actress Jennifer Lawrence has her The Hunger Games co-star Josh Hutcherson to thank for her acting career - because his story helped convince her parents that showbusiness was a worthy profession.

The young star's folks reluctantly let her spend a summer in New York when she was 14 auditioning for acting jobs, but when she failed to land her big break, they insisted she come home and concentrate on another career.

Then she found a newspaper article about Hutcherson, promoting his breakthrough role in Little Manhattan.

She tells Entertainment Weekly magazine, "I was like, 'Look, see? He's from Kentucky and he made it. I can do it too.'

"And, weirdly, it helped them accept that this is what I wanted to do."...

Gk Films has acquired The Man's Guide to Love, a pitch for a comedy that Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett will write and direct. Gk's Graham King and Tim Headington will produce with Laurence Mark. The plot revolves around three brothers, living in La, New York and London, who lean on each other to navigate romantic relationships. The premise and title comes from themansguidetolove.com, a website launched by Levin and Flackett which features a steady dose of man-on-the-street interviews with guys who dispense advice on keys for a successful romantic relationship. Levin and Flackett have also just made a deal with Simon & Schuster to write a book using the same title, which they'll deliver in the fall to be published under Jennifer Bergstrom's Gallery Books imprint. They will be executive producers of the film. Not bad for something that grew out of a title Levin thought up for a...

A few months ago all the speculative casting about Marvel's "Captain America" film came to a head when a shortlist of four final contenders for the titular role emerged online.

Today, a similar thing has happened for Sony's upcoming planned reboot of the "Spider-Man" franchise. Director Marc Webb has been meeting and reading actors quietly for several months and though the the studio is still on the lookout, the shortlist of candidates that will likely submit to a screen test shortly has come down to five names which Heat Vision seem to have uncovered:

1. Jamie Bell

The 24-year-old British actor and best known name on the list, Bell rose to fame as the title character in “Billy Elliot”.

He followed that up with classic literary adaptations like "Nicholas Nickleby” and the upcoming “Jane Eyre”, Hollywood actioneers like Peter Jackson’s “King Kong” and Doug Liman's "Jumper", indie dramas "The Chumscrubber...

Word over at IESB is that Josh Hutcherson (aka Gabe from Little Manhattan, one of the cutest movies in the history of cinema) is now in the running to play Marc Webb’s teenage web-slinging Peter Parker in Spider-Man. Hutcherson’s rave reviews may stem largely from his indie works – Little Manhattan, and the upcoming Sundance hit The Kids Are All Right - but he’s no stranger to blockbusters or genre flicks. He was in Zathura, Journey to the Center of the Earth and will feature in MGM’s remake of Red Dawn.

IESB doesn’t specify where they’ve gotten this exclusive nugget of info, but do say they’ve contacted Hutcherson’s representation to see if there’s any truth to the rumor. They point out that both Hutcherson and Percy Jackson’s Logan Lerman, who was previously thought to be a lock for the new Spidey,...

Inside many superhero stories is a Greek tragedy in hiding. There is the godlike hero, and he is flawed. In early days his weaknesses were simplistic, like Superman's vulnerability to Kryptonite. Then Spider-Man was created as an insecure teenager, and comic books began to peer deeper. Now comes the "Watchmen," with their origins as 1940s goofballs, their development into modern costumed vigilantes, and the laws against them as public nuisances. They are human. Although they have extraordinary physical powers, they aren't superheroes in the usual sense. Then everything changes for Jon Osterman, remade after a nuclear accident as Dr. Manhattan. He isn't as human as Batman, but that can be excused because he isn't human at all.

He is the most metaphysically intriguing character in modern superhero movies. He not only lives in a quantum universe, but is aware that he does, and reflects about it. He says, "This world's...

We have chosen 5 lucky winners of Nims Island on DVD. A fun-filled adventure comedy and heartwarming story of self-discovery and friendship starring Oscar-nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), Jodie Foster (Flight Plan) and Gerard Butler (300), Nim’s Island exploded onto dvd August. Based on the beloved children’s novel by Wendy Orr and directed by the husband and wife team of Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett (Little Manhattan), Nim’s Island is an “exhilarating and enchanting family picture” (San Francisco Chronicle) that delighted audiences with ...

Nims Island is now on DVD and you can pickup a free copy of this fantastic family film in our contest! This is your last call to enter and win Nims island on DVD. A fun-filled adventure comedy and heartwarming story of self-discovery and friendship starring Oscar-nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), Jodie Foster (Flight Plan) and Gerard Butler (300), Nim’s Island exploded onto dvd August. Based on the beloved children’s novel by Wendy Orr and directed by the husband and wife team of Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett (Little Manhattan), Nim’s Island is an &ldq...

Nim's Island is a crowded one, a tropical isle jammed with childhood fantasies, exotic creatures, outlandish plots and improbable characters both real and imagined.

The idyllic island makes Disneyland's Jungle Cruise look like neo-realism and contains more well-meaning messages than an After School Special, yet this family comedy adventure from Walden Media is likable in a scruffy way. Its characters, especially the youngest one, are engaging, and few adults are immune to childhood fantasies about secluded tropical isles. Fox can anticipate above average business from a broad audience.

The script by the husband-and-wife directing team of Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett (Little Manhattan) along with producer Paula Mazur and Joseph Kwong draws upon Wendy Orr's 2002 novel about a remote volcanic paradise that hosts two humans, a tomboyish young girl Nim (Abigail Breslin) and her scientist father. Her playmates are Selkie the Sea Lion, Fred the Bearded Dragon and Galileo the Pelican, while her literary hero is Alex Rover, the lionhearted star of adventure novels.

When a storm strands her dad at sea without any means of communication and the island is threatened with devastation -- by tourists -- she reaches out to Alex via the Internet. How is Nim to know that her hero actually is Alexandra Rover (Jodie Foster), an agoraphobic writer locked up in her San Francisco apartment, afraid to venture as far as the mailbox.

Both females find the inner strength to challenge their worst fears, thanks in large measure to the fictional courage of Alex Rover. Scottish hunk Gerard Butler plays the dual role of Nim's father and the intrepid Alex Rover, an Indiana Jones with a heartier laugh, who appears to Alexandra and haunts Nim's imagination.

Unlike Romancing the Stone, where a novelist finds herself pleasingly trapped within an adventure that mirrors her fictional creations, "Nim's Island" doesn't know where to draw the line between real life and fiction. When "real life" characters pilot a helicopter and then a row boat in a typhoon and a little girl can Jump Start a volcano, what role does fiction have to play?

Breslin is on the surest footing here. She instinctively knows how broadly to play the young heroine, making her game feisty but still a little girl terrified over her missing dad. Butler rolls through both roles by channeling an overdeveloped sense of macho into slightly different versions of the same man.

It is Foster, though, who stumbles with the overripe comedy. Too much slapstick slips into her performance. The agoraphobe's anxieties are all played for laughs, so no real victory is achieved by her overcoming what can be a very real distress.

The beaches of Australia's Gold Coast, rain forests of Hinchinbrook Island, visual effects and highly trained exotic animals create a whimsical paradise you only wish you, and no one else, had discovered.

NIM'S ISLAND

Fox

A Walden Media production

Credits:

Directors: Mark Levin, Jennifer Flackett

Screenwriters: Mark Levin, Jennifer Flackett, Paula Mazur, Joseph Kwong

Based on the novel by: Wendy Orr

Producer: Paula Mazur

Executive producer: Stephen Jones

Director of photography: Stuart Dryburgh

Production designer: Barry Robison

Music: Patrick Doyle

Costume designer: Jeffrey Kurland

Editor: Stuart Levy

Cast:

Nim: Abigail Breslin

Alexandra: Jodie Foster

Jack/Alex Rover: Gerard Butler

Captain: Michael Carmen

Purser: Mark Brady

Running time -- 96 minutes

MPAA rating: PG...

By Neil Pedley

This week is something of a nostalgia trip with a period comedy, Freddie Prinze Jr. and a concert documentary about a group of men who, by all the laws of man and nature, should not still be alive and walking around.

"The Flight of the Red Balloon"

After being nominated for the Palme d'Or an incredible five times at Cannes, it's no wonder that director Hou Hsiao-hsien has become a Francophile. In his first film outside of Asia, the "Three Times" auteur directs the country's first lady of cinema, Juliette Binoche, in a story about an overburdened mother who receives a much-needed lift from her son's Chinese nanny (Song Fang) as they turn the City of Lights into a magical playground for the 7-year-old Simon . a tribute to Albert Lamorisse's 1956 short. In French with subtitles.

Opens in limited release.

"Jack and Jill vs. the World...

Regency Enterprises' Little Manhattan, set for release by 20th Century Fox, will have its New York premiere at an outdoor screening Aug. 27, the closing night of the third annual Central Park Film Festival, hosted by the Central Park Conservancy. A romantic comedy set in Manhattan and shot entirely in New York, the film, written by Jennifer Flackett and directed by Mark Levin, stars Josh Hutcherson, Charlie Ray, Cynthia Nixon and Bradley Whitford. It opens theatrically Sept. 30.