The end of the world, turning on a comic axis

NEW YORK (AP) — The Earth has been coming to an end with comic frequency. We've seen tsunamis sweep the oceans ("2012"), the world freeze over ("The Day After Tomorrow") and a rogue planet bear down ("Melancholia"). So many have been patrolling a desolate Earth — Will Smith ("After Earth"), …

Nearing 50, a heightened perspective for Pitt

The face is hardly wrinkled and the long blond locks appear unchanged, but Brad Pitt, who will turn 49 in December, is increasingly preoccupied with the passage of time and the thought that his rarefied place in movies is fleeting.

For Ang Lee, all movies are a leap of faith

NEW YORK (AP) — Is there anything Ang Lee can't do?

A 'Life' changing film for the young actor of 'Pi'

The only thing more unlikely than a movie about a boy adrift on a ship with a Bengali tiger is the tale of the film's star.

With 'Skyfall,' Craig puts his stamp on Bond

If you just looked at the cast and crew of "Skyfall," you could easily confuse the assembled talent for a prestige costume drama. Director Sam Mendes, actors Judi Dench, Javier Bardem and Ralf Fiennes, and cinematographer Roger Deakins might just as easily be mounting a Shakespeare adaptation.

Movie review: Family tectonics shift in fourth 'Ice Age'

The "Ice Age" films, which now number four, might have a prehistoric setting like the Flintstones, but their cartoon world is much closer to Wile E. Coyote.

Young Hollywood stars strike out on own at Cannes

Vampires, Transformers, singing high-schoolers: They can all be tough to outrun.

In first solo album, Jack White taps a blue vein

Jack White is musing on his latest color scheme.

Movie review: The laudable 'Red Tails' misses its target

In "Red Tails," the famed Tuskegee Airmen get the John Wayne-style heroic rendering they very much deserve, but in a hackneyed and weirdly context-less story that does them a disservice.

Sandra Bullock coaxed into return by 'Extremely Loud'

Sandra Bullock wasn't looking to return to acting when Stephen Daldry called about "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."

Lady Gaga voted AP Entertainer of the Year

You might say that Lady Gaga's year really began in an egg.

With the same vim and new animals, Cameron Crowe returns

After six years of uncertainty, the present is feeling good for Crowe, the writer-director of earnest, personal films such as "Say Anything..." and "Jerry Maguire."

With same vim, new animals, Cameron Crowe returns

Fresh off an inspired writing session, Cameron Crowe is pulsing with enthusiasm.

Movie review: There's no saving 'Chipwrecked' Chipmunks

Puns like these would be unforgivable coming from a human. From high-pitched rodents, they prompt calls for an exterminator.

Movie review: 'New Year's Eve' drops the ball

"New Year's Eve" is the second in a remarkably shallow series of holiday-themed, celebrity-stuffed confections from director Garry Marshall and screenwriter Katherine Fugate, following their 2010 "Valentine's Day" collaboration. Of course, the really good stuff will come once they get to "Co…

Scorsese's 'Hugo' named best film by National Board of Review

The National Board of Review picked Martin Scorsese's 3-D "Hugo" as the year's best film, an unusually kid friendly choice sure to add further intrigue to the Oscar hunt.

Enthused by 3-D, Martin Scorsese sees in a new dimension with 'Hugo'

Thelma Schoonmaker, Martin Scorsese's longtime editor, warmly greets a reporter outside their Manhattan offices ahead of a screening of Scorsese's new 3-D fairytale, "Hugo."

Movie review: 'Footloose' tries a new dance step

The original "Footloose" may have had an absurd premise and not even a tacit acknowledgement of the existence of people any color besides white, but it was an '80s movie, after all.

Movie review: Cameron Crowe gives Pearl Jam a fan-friendly retrospective

Moviegoers still lusting for the long male manes of "The Last of the Mohicans" finally have a movie that collects an equally distinguished array of locks.

Stephen Colbert to meet Radiohead in hour-long episode

Stephen Colbert meeting Radiohead is such a special occasion, a regular episode of "The Colbert Report" wasn't sufficient.

Post 9/11, few beside superheroes can save the day

From the first shattering moment, movies were wrapped up in Sept. 11.

Startup tries to put sociability back into movies

Streaming movies might not yet have the equivalent of a theater experience, with roaring crowds crunching on popcorn, but they are getting more social.

Movie review: 'Friends with Benefits' mocks rom-coms

Though self-consciously set in the bicoastal Hollywood axis of New York-Los Angeles, "Friends with Benefits" more properly takes place amid the movie world of romantic comedies.

A Toy Story: 'Cars' merchandise ubiquitous

NEW YORK (AP) — In the Pixar pantheon of animated films remarkable for their appeal to both adults and children, "Cars" is the most purely kiddie affair.

At 81, Christopher Plummer still relishing the actor's life

Ewan McGregor was having a hard time keeping up with Christopher Plummer.

Lizards and light dance in 'Rango'

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, where "the drugs began to take hold" in the Johnny Depp adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

A Walkman Obit: Remembering the portable player

The Walkman, the Sony cassette device that forever changed music listening before becoming outdated by digital MP3 players and iPods, has died. It was 31 years old. Sony announced Monday that it has ceased production of the classic, cassette tape Walkman in Japan, effectively sounding the de…

The new Western? The mind is latest movie frontier

For the visually savvy filmmaker, there's a new frontier with as much cinematic appeal as the old West held for moviemakers half a century ago.

`MacGruber' tries to overcome stigma of SNL movies

When "Saturday Night Live" characters journey from sketch to screen, they often appear lost away from their live studio habitat.

Not a punch line: Damon Wayans has written a novel

Damon Wayans now has the unique distinction of having both Homey D. Clown and a novel to his credits.

James Franco's 'SNL' documentary plays at Tribeca Fest

It was "Saturday Night Live" on a Sunday afternoon, as James Franco's "SNL" documentary screened at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Hitler 'Downfall' parodies removed from YouTube

Adolf Hitler, for years a vessel of frustration in a popular Internet parody, has been quieted.

'Clash of the Titans' updates '80s camp

Who wants to be a god, anyway?

Aniston and Butler are eye candy for 'The Bounty Hunter'

In Steven Soderbergh's "Out of Sight," George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez memorably created romantic sparks while huddled in the trunk of a car. By contrast, the action-laden romantic-comedy "The Bounty Hunter" begins with Jennifer Aniston bursting out a trunk in a smokey blaze of ignited fla…

'Our Family Wedding' surpasses stereotype

One enters a movie like "Our Family Wedding" bracing for cheesiness.

Robert Pattinson still brooding in 'Remember Me'

In "Remember Me," Robert Pattinson has temporarily stepped away from "Twilight," apparently in search of his "Five Easy Pieces" or "Rebel Without a Cause."

'Alice' through a drearier looking glass

In Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," Alice has grown -- not by "drink me" potion or "eat me" cake -- into a 19-year-old girl.

'Funny Or Die' leaps to TV in new HBO series

Will Ferrell and Adam McKay forged their partnership years ago on "Saturday Night Live." Now, in a much different way, the two are back on TV with a sketch comedy show.

Stephen Colbert heads to Olympics for medals and mockery

Like many of the athletes vying for gold in Vancouver, Stephen Colbert's Olympic training has been eventful.

Pierce Brosnan reveals the character actor within

A debonair Pierce Brosnan, Bond-like in black jacket and gleaming white shirt, strides into a Manhattan hotel room for an interview.

'Valentine's Day' overstuffed with stars

"Valentine's Day" might boast the most shirtless dudes we've seen in a movie since "300." Ironically, the often bare-chested "Twilight" star Taylor Lautner isn't one of them.

Mel Gibson returns in 'Edge of Darkness'

It's been seven years since his last film, but Mel Gibson is still playing martyr.

Denzel saves the world in 'Book of Eli'

In the future, according to "The Book of Eli," we'll all dress like we're in a Nine Inch Nails video. It is written.

`Avatar' joins tradition of the Hollywood colossus

It's fair to say that it's a risky venture to create a movie about an exotically colored, 10-foot-tall tribe called the Na'vi and spend more money making it than any other film in the history of Hollywood.

Eastwood continues streak with `Invictus'

"Invictus" is a sports film that is more about what's happening in the stands than on the playing field.

NBR names 'Up in the Air' best film of the year

"Up in the Air" was named best picture from the National Board of Review and won a total of four awards.

Muppets take the Web with 'Bohemian Rhapsody'

Much like the Muppets took Manhattan, they have taken the Web.

'Brothers' loses something in translation

In Jim Sheridan's "Brothers," it feels like the film's three young stars are playing house.

'The Road' strives, but leads nowhere

In Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel "The Road," no word is repeated so often and with such steady emphasis as "ash."

The end not soon enough for '2012'

Cataclysmic disaster and apocalyptic doom, as foretold by Hollywood, have a way of bringing together broken families, revealing the unseen heroism of deadbeat dads and neatly disposing of their rivals.