Contributor: Paul Asay

The Hallows were far from deadly for Harry Potter and his mates. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 worked its magic on the box office and conjured more than $125 million this weekend, according to boxofficemojo.com. It’s technically the bigg …

We Americans love our hot dogs. We love our apple pie. We love our baseball. And we especially love our murder mysteries. I was thinking a bit about this cultural trait while reviewing CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Without much critical love, CSI has …

You can’t keep a good supervillain down. DreamWorks’ animated Megamind stopped a runaway train in its tracks to claim the box office crown for the second week in a row, sequestering more than $30 million en route, according to boxofficemojo.com. Unstop …

They’ve come for our brains. No, not the aliens. The makers of this movie.

Every Monday, we typically talk on the blog about the biggest movies of the weekend: What everyone saw, what everyone didn’t see and what, if anything, it might mean. The posts themselves are not too provocative, typically … but the last couple instiga …

In a triumph for bald, blue, misunderstood villains everywhere, DreamWorks’ Megamind grabbed megamillions—an estimated $47.7 million—to steal the box office crown, according to boxofficemojo.com. Another newcomer, the R-rated Due Date, popped into seco …

Despicable actions blend with soaring poetry in one of the year’s most unusual films—a film that speaks to the entire human condition, not just “colored girls.”

On April 26, 2003, Aron Ralston wormed his way down into a tight little crevice in the wilds of Utah. Five days later, he came out again—or, at least, most of him did.

Sometimes, nice girls do finish first. Country charmer Taylor Swift’s new album, Speak Now, sold more than 1 million albums in its first week, making it the year’s biggest debut by far (second goes to Eminem’s Recovery, which sold 741,000) and nearly b …

The Russian mafia are festooned with telltale tattoos in this new David Cronenberg nightmare. ‘Every sin leaves a mark,’ reads the tagline. So does every movie.

Since its inception way back in 2004, the Saw franchise has sliced and diced its way to nearly $400 million in domestic box office receipts. But lately, the films’ performances have been, how shall we say, dull? Granted, Saw 3D’s opening take this week …

I’ve been in mourning the last couple of days. I’ve hung my 3-D glasses at half staff and considered wrapping my cubicle in black creché. Paul the Octopus is dead. Paul, as you may recall, earned a measure of fame by becoming the world’s most prominent …

Never mind that Starkiller died at the end of the first game: He must once again save the galaxy from Darth Vader and his evil empire. Too bad the whole exercise feels a little … forced.

The local cineplex was a frightening place this weekend in a lot of respects, with Paranormal Activity 2 screaming its way to a $41.5 million take and scaring off all other comers. Last week’s champ, Jacka– 3D, a sort of horror film in its own right, …

I don’t like to brag, but there’s a chance I might be a “10.” On the iPhone’s new “Ugly Meter” app, that is. The app—already downloaded 20,000 times—encourages users to take photos of themselves with their handy iPhone cameras, have the app check out t …