News

I recently ranked the 10 best Stephen King books ever, and had an absolute blast. I've been a huge Stephen King nerd for almost my entire life, and I loved revisiting some of his best works as I researched the list. Since I got the best of King's books out of the way, the next logical step was to go ahead and rank the 10 best Stephen King short stories. However, this proved to be a far more daunting task. King has a lot of short stories, folks, and the bulk of them are pretty damn great. Which meant whittling the list down to 10 specific titles was a little tricky for me, but I did my best!

And just to make this more difficult on myself, I went ahead and laid down some ground rules that I almost immediately regretted. I wanted to specifically focus on short stories here, which means I...

Author and horror extraordinaire Stephen King released a collection of short stories a few months back. Titled You Like It Darker, the book has 12 stories to it and does not conform to a single genre. While some belong to his trademark horror line, some are funny, while others are downright creepy.

Stephen King | Credit: YouTube via CBS Sunday Morning

The book has been termed from magnificent and excellent to everything in between. And King has been praised for his work on the collection. But while appreciative, what many readers might not know is that one of these stories took King 45 long years to complete. And you thought Francis Ford Coppola and George R.R. Martin were bad!

Stephen King Took 45 Years to Write a Story For You Like It Darker

It’s anyone’s guess how long a writer would take to finish a project if there is no set deadline.

Exclusive: Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham and The Nightingale‘s Aisling Franciosi have joined the cast of Three Point Capital and David Permut Production’s movie Twinless. They will star opposite previously announced Dylan O’Brien and James Sweeney.

Sweeney is also writing and directing the pic which follows two young men who meet in a twin bereavement support group, and form an unlikely bromance.

O’Brien and Miky Lee are EPs. Alex Astrachan, Director of Development at Permut Presentations is co-producer. Republic Pictures has worldwide rights to the film.

Three Point Capital is financing the feature with Ali Jazayeri, David Gendron and Liz Destro also serving as executive producers.

Graham is known for playing Lorelai Gilmore on the hit CW series, Gilmore Girls. She’s also starred in such movies as Flash of Genius, The Answer Man with Jeff Daniels, Evan Almighty with Steve Carell, Because I Said So opposite Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore,...

A year and a half ago, legendary literary master of horror Stephen King mentioned that he was writing a novella called Rattlesnakes, which he referred to as a sequel to his 1981 novel Cujo (buy it Here), which was turned into a movie (watch the movie Here) that King thought should have earned star Dee Wallace an Academy Award. Although the events of Cujo are referenced in other King stories, it has never gotten a direct follow-up – which makes sense, since it’s about a rabid St. Bernard dog that doesn’t survive past the final pages. But now Entertainment Weekly has revealed exactly how Rattlesnakes is connected to Cujo: the lead character happens to be Vic Trenton, whose wife Donna and son Tad were the characters trapped in a car by the rabid St. Bernard. They have also revealed that Rattlesnakes is going to be one of the twelve...

We told you last year that Stephen King was writing a new short story set in the world of his classic horror novel Cujo, and now we know that you can expect to read it in early 2024.

The short story, which is titled Rattlesnakes, will debut in Stephen King’s You Like It Darker, a brand new collection of 12 short stories being released on May 21, 2024!

Entertainment Weekly details this afternoon that Rattlesnakes tells the tale of “a grieving widower [who] travels to Florida for respite and instead receives an unexpected inheritance — with major strings attached.” You can find an excerpt from the story over on EW now.

The website’s exclusive excerpt from Rattlesnakes reveals that the new short story centers on Vic Trenton, the husband of Donna and the father of Tad in the classic tale of Cujo!

You Like It Darker will also feature the following King stories…

“Two...

Fandoms everywhere can now rejoice, for in October Our Flag Means Death finally returns to our screens for its second season. Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi will be romancing the high seas once more thanks to an enormous outpouring of love and support from the show’s fans. The safety of the cult favorite is not yet known beyond season two, but if this one is as good as the first, it certainly won’t be for lack of trying.

Talking of little shows that could, Doom Patrol is back for its last ever block of episodes, having long outlasted the many of the other ill-fated DC streaming series. Season two of The Gilded Age is also streaming this month, with Bertha challenging both Mrs. Astor and the old system in this new run.

And if none of that is up your street, there’s always Jason Statham punching sharks in the face,...

With its combined catalog of HBO originals as well as titles from Food Network, Cartoon Network, the CW, Discovery, HGTV, and more, Max is starting another month with an embarrassment of riches, be it Gilded Age fortunes or pirate booty.

The Warner Bros. streamer will pull from its multiple brands for dozens of new titles, classic movies, special-interest series, and more, from 1963’s classic horror film The Haunting to the all-new highly anticipated second season of the romantic dramedy “Our Flag Means Death.”

Get ready for the new month and check out The Streamable’s picks for the best titles coming to Max this month!

7-Day Free Trial $9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com

Get 20% Off Your Next Year of Max When Pre-Paid Annually

What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Max in October 2023? “Our Flag Means Death” Season 2 | Thursday, Oct. 5

Season 2 of the hit Taikia Waititi and Rhys Darby...

Rhys Darby in ‘Our Flag Means Death’ season 2 (Photograph by Nicola Dove/Max)

Max’s 2023 October lineup of series includes new seasons of Our Flag Means Death, The Gilded Age, and 30 Coins, as well as the second half of Doom Patrol season four (the final season). A documentary focusing on the notorious Bling Ring premieres on October 1st, along with all five Final Destination films.

In addition to a batch of horror films joining the network’s lineup, Max is celebrating Halloween with new seasons of Ghost Adventures and The Haunted Museum.

Series & Films Arriving On Max In October 2023:

October 1

3 Godfathers (1948)

The Adventures of Pinocchio (1996)

All About the Benjamins (2002)

The Amazing Panda Adventure (1995)

Angels in the Outfield (1951)

The Answer Man (2009)

Anthropoid (2016)

Appaloosa (2008)

The Apparition (2012)

The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

Badlands (1973)

Be Cool (2005)

Bee Season (2005)

Beetlejuice (1988)

The Benchwarmers (2006)

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Blindspotting (2018)

Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012)

Cesar Chavez (2014)

Charlie Wilson’s War...

Wake up, Neo.

It’s December 2021 and to celebrate HBO Max is bringing back a classic sci-fi franchise for one last ride. The list of new releases on HBO Max this month is highlighted by The Matrix Resurrections on Dec. 22. This is the long-awaited return to the reality-bending saga from The Wachowskis. Writer/director Lana Wachowski returns as do stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss as Neo and Trinity, respectively. This time around it’s 20 years after The Matrix Revolutions and “Neo lives a seemingly ordinary life as Thomas A. Anderson in San Francisco where his therapist prescribes him blue pills. Neither he nor Trinity recognize each other. However, Morpheus offers him the red pill and reopens his mind to the world of the Matrix.”

While The Matrix Resurrections is the big draw this time around, HBO Max has some other intriguing originals to speak of. The David Thewlis and...

And just like that – here comes spring. Amazon Prime‘s list of new releases for April 2021 isn’t as cheery as one would expect from the sunny season. But perhaps that’s by design – you should be outside anyway!

Amazon’s most prominent original series for April 2021 is undoubtedly Them from multi-hyphenate Lena Waithe. This horror anthology’s first season, subtitled “Covenant”, will center on a Black family in the 1950s who move from North Carolina to a white neighborhood in Los Angeles. It premieres on April 9. Given its name and premise, Them is drawing some (largely joke-y) comparisons to Jordan Peele’s Us on social media. But hey, the world could always use some more Us.

Read more TV Does the Latest Lord of the Rings Amazon Series Cast Exit Signal Trouble? By Joseph Baxter TV New On Amazon Prime Video UK March 2021: Invincible, Coming 2 America and More!

Exclusive: Mudbound and Straight Outta Compton star Jason Mitchell is to play inspirational former wrestling champ Anthony Robles in biopic Unstoppable.

Robles was born with one leg and overcame a series of challenges to become an NCAA champ in 2010-11. The feature will mark the directorial debut of Oscar-winning editor Billy Goldenberg, known for his work on Argo, Zero Dark Thirty and more recently Detroit, which also starred Mitchell.

The Town and Captive State producer David Crockett and former Morgan Creek exec Andy Fraser (The Good Shepherd) are producing the film with Robles’ longtime manager Gary Lewis. The team is gearing up to shoot in first quarter of 2019.

The producers previously optioned Robles’ autobiography Unstoppable: From Underdog To Undefeated: How I Became A Champion. Published in 2012 by Penguin imprint Gotham Books, the book chronicles how Robles was born with one leg to a single parent family from the wrong side...

Orgasm high scores. Exploding prop heads. Poorly dubbed kung fu masters. A shit-kicking cop who can’t be killed. All this and more can be found in Shawn Crahan’s absolutely batshit insane Officer Downe, a graphic novel adaptation that oozes B-Movie absurdity through reckless decapitations and renegade heroics. Think Dredd, but with an aggressive stress put on not giving a single flying fuck about anything – like, even less than Judge Dredd’s zero tolerance policy.

Kim Coates plays Officer Terry Downe, a “special” lawman who is resurrected each day to clean the streets of Los Angeles. He’s a one-man wrecking ball with his own designated clean-up crew, including the newly assigned Officer Gamble (Tyler Ross). After witnessing the unimaginable, Gamble struggles to understand how Officer Downe defies the afterlife, which causes some friction in the bullpen with other more accepting officers – but there’s no time to waste.

Variety is reporting that actor Lou Taylor Pucci(Horsemen, Arlen Faber) is in talks to play a character named Eric in The Evil Dead. Eric is described as an intense and arrogant academic. His intellectual curiosity gets the best of him as he transcribes passages from a mysterious book that the group finds in a remote cabin. Once he recites part of the book it unleashes unspeakable evil upon his group of friends. If he joins the cast, Pucci will be joining actress Jane Levy, who replaced Mirror Mirror's Lily Collins for the lead role of Mia, the Ash-like character in this version. Sony announced that the remake for The Evil Dead will hit theaters on April 12, 2013. The movie's script was created by director Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues, with Diablo Cody (Jennifer's Body coming on board to fine tune. Filming won't start until March.

Chicago – In this edition of the HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: DVD, two lucky winners will win three DVDs each from Magnolia Pictures for the movies “Ira & Abby,” “The Great Buck Howard” and “The Answer Man”! This Hookup is in support of the new video-on-demand release of “Main Street” starring Colin Firth, Orlando Bloom and Patricia Clarkson!

“Main Street” also stars Amber Tamblyn, Ellen Burstyn, Andrew McCarthy, Margo Martindale and Tom Wopat from director John Doyle and writer Horton Foote. “Ira & Abby” stars Jennifer Westfeldt, Chris Messina and Jason Alexander. “The Great Buck Howard” stars Colin Hanks, John Malkovich and Tom Hanks. “The Answer Man” stars Jeff Daniels, Lauren Graham and Lou Taylor Pucci.

The video-on-demand premiere date for “Main Street” was Aug. 5, 2011. The film’s official Web site is here and Facebook page is here. “Main Street” opens in theaters on Sept. 9, 2011. To win your free Magnolia Pictures DVDs courtesy of HollywoodChicago.

Chicago – In this edition of the HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: DVD, two lucky winners will clean up with two DVDs from Magnolia Pictures for the movies “The Great Buck Howard” and “The Answer Man” plus a full-size poster for “Barry Munday” signed by Patrick Wilson, Judy Greer and director Chris D’Arienzo!

“Barry Munday” stars Patrick Wilson, Judy Greer, Chloë Sevigny and Mae Whitman and opened in theaters on Oct. 1, 2010. “The Great Buck Howard” stars Tom Hanks, John Malkovich, Colin Hanks, Emily Blunt and Steve Zahn. “The Answer Man” stars Jeff Daniels, Lauren Graham, Olivia Thirlby and Kat Dennings.

To win your free DVDs and poster courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, all you need to do is answer our question in this Web-based submission form. That’s it! Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

The movie poster for “Barry Munday” with Patrick Wilson,...

Chicago – In this edition of the HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: DVD, two lucky winners will clean up with three DVDs from Magnolia Pictures for “Julia,” “Two Lovers” and “The Answer Man” plus a full-size poster for “I Am Love” signed by Oscar-winning star Tilda Swinton and an “I Am Love” soundtrack!

“I Am Love” stars Tilda Swinton from writer and director Luca Guadagnino. “Julia” stars Tilda Swinton from director Erick Zonca. “Two Lovers” stars Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw, Moni Moshonov and John Ortiz from director James Gray. “The Answer Man” stars Jeff Daniels, Lauren Graham, Olivia Thirlby and Kat Dennings from director John Hindman.

To win your free DVDs and poster courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, all you need to do is answer a question in this Web-based submission form. That’s it! Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

We’ve teamed up with the nice folks over at Magnolia Pictures to give our readers a chance at winning some awesome Magnolia swag. Here’s what we have: a full-size poster signed by Tilda Swinton, one I Am Love soundtrack, and the following Magnolia DVD titles: Julia, Two Lovers and The Answer Man. How awesome is that?

To enter the contest, all you have to do is fill out the form after the jump. Deadline ends at 11:59 Pm on July 23. On July 24, we will select a winner via random drawing and notify them by email. No purchase necessary, winners must live inside the U.S. (no P.O. boxes), and one entry per household. Good luck!

Read more on Giveaway: Win an I Am Love poster signed by Tilda Swinton and DVDs from @MagnoliaPics…...

Infusing last year's Cannes with such unique films as Greece's Dogtooth, Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno and the biking in the birthday suit comedy The Misfortunates, the all encompassing heavyweight French unit MK2 is on one of those odd winning streaks – managing to find/rep films that are celebrated at not only the major heavyweight film fests, but the “second tier” noteworthy fests as well – such as the Rotterdams and the Locarnos of this world we brought about Alamar (To the Sea) and Nothing Personal. - Infusing last year's Cannes with such unique films as Greece's Dogtooth, Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno and the biking in the birthday suit comedy The Misfortunates, the all encompassing heavyweight French unit MK2 is on one of those odd winning streaks – managing to find/rep films that are celebrated at not only the major heavyweight film fests, but the “second tier” noteworthy fests...

Infusing last year's Cannes with such unique films as Greece's Dogtooth, Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno and the biking in the birthday suit comedy The Misfortunates, the all encompassing heavyweight French unit MK2 is on one of those odd winning streaks – managing to find/rep films that are celebrated at not only the major heavyweight film fests, but the “second tier” noteworthy fests as well – such as the Rotterdams and the Locarnos of this world we brought about Alamar (To the Sea) and Nothing Personal. This year they present films from distinguished auteurs in Kiarostami (see Binoche in still above) and Zhang-ke, but anyone who follows the site knows how much we look forward in seeing Abdellatif Kechiche's next feature – headed to and to be celebrated in, Venice. P.S: MK2 reps can invite me to see the first images of the biopic set way before our time. Black Venus...

"What happened to Olivia Thirlby?" I asked this very question to a friend a couple weeks back, while riding the tube in London. The actress broke onto the scene with a small role in the Paul Greengrass-directed Oscar-nominated United 93, and proceeded to go on a tear, starring in some of my favorite indie films of 2007/2008: David Gordon Green's underrated adaptation of Snow Angels, Jason Reitman's Oscar-nominated film Juno, and Jonathan Levine's The Wackness. She has since made appearances in a few New York City-short films, including Brett Ratner's segment of New York, I Love You, Daryl Wein's SXSW mumblecore romantic comedy Breaking Upwards, and John Hindman's The Answer Man. Many people I've talked to believed this now-23-year-old actress had the potential to be Hollywood's next big thing (and I too was on the bandwagon). And not for a lack of trying,...

It's a wrap! The Martin Gropius Bau is empty and the final pickups follow. This is a work in progress and readers are invited and welcome to contribute. Presales have returned in reaction to the reduced number of finished films on offer over the past two markets. Presales applies across the board from Us to French and even Italian films. English language films are increasingly coming out of the major non English language territories but local product is impacting sales on Us films internationally. Business was quickly wrapped up but it was done with a healthy number of buys reported. Lower prices have become accepted but the market must have product as this event proved.

Adriana Chiesa has licensed Federico Moccia’s teen trilogy to Savor to Spain. The first title, Sorry If I Love You (Scusa Ma Ti Chiamo Amore) grossed $27m when released by Medusa on 600 prints in Italy.

Entertainment Industries Council (Eic) has on Thursday, February 18, announced the nominees of the 14th Annual Prism Awards, unraveling that Maggie Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. will be competing in the same category. The "Crazy Heart" beauty and the leading man of "The Soloist" are both nominated for Performance in a Feature Film.

Both of them are vying for the title against their co-stars. Maggie, who is the only actress receiving the nomination in the particular category, is up against leading man Jeff Bridges, while Robert will have to battle it out with fellow star Jamie Foxx. They are also listed alongside "Brothers" star Tobey Maguire.

Experiencing similar situation as Maggie are Toni Collette and Edie Falco. Toni gets the nomination for Performance in a Comedy Series along with Dan Castellaneta, Hector Elizondo, Neil Patrick Harris and Tony Shalhoub, and Edie lands the Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Story Line nod against Bryan Cranston,...

The Greater Philadelphia Film Office logged its biggest production year ever in 2009, because of 11 major films and TV series -- including James L. Brooks upcoming untitled movie -- that shot in Philadelphia.

The productions created 2,000 jobs and generated close to one half billion dollars in economic impact.

Besides the Brooks project, the movies that shot in Philadelphia included "Tech," "Right Hand Man," "Night Catches Us," "The Best and the Brightest," "The Last Airbender," "Cafe" and "Redemption." The series were "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "Cold Case."

"In 2009 we welcomed more big movie stars and directors to the area and are thrilled to report a much larger economic boon to the region than in any time in my 18 years at the Film Office. Best of all, the outlook for the film industry in the Southeastern Pennsylvania region for 2010 is stellar, thanks to the survival of the Pennsylvania film tax program,...

Here are some of the memorable quotes from male actors Back Stage spoke to in the past year:"I've been talking to [Nelson Mandela] for years. He was asked if 'Long Walk to Freedom' became a movie, who would he want to play him, and he named me. It's been a forgone conclusion that at some point or other, I would play him."—Morgan Freeman, "Invictus""I struggled with the auditioning process at the beginning, for sure. It's always kind of weird when you're doing a scene for those who are hiring. You have to audition, and a lot of times it's a sterile room and you're standing on an X mark and it's somewhat unnatural. Then, after a while, I started seeing it more as a rehearsal rather than an actual audition. That helped, and I started feeling more comfortable with it."—Michael Fassbender, "Inglourious Basterds""I didn't really have the...

"Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" star Kat Dennings joins the cast ensemble for "Thor". The news was uncovered by the depicter of Jane Foster, Natalie Portman, during the promotion of her forthcoming movie "Brothers".

Asked by MTV News who she is looking forward the most to work with in the Kenneth Branagh-helmed movie, Portman admitted, "Well I'm really excited. Kat Dennings is going to be in it with me and she's a good friend and an amazing actress, so I'm looking forward to that." Unfortunately, as of the press time, Paramount Pictures hasn't given any official confirmation about Dennings' involvement.

Kat Dennings started her acting career with her portrayal of Jenny Brier in famous TV series "Sex and the City". Since then, she has appeared in lots of movies, including "The 40 Year-Old Virgin", "Big Momma's House 2", "The House Bunny", "The Answer Man", and "Shorts". The 23-year-old can...

Chicago - We’re approaching an entertainment apocalypse as the new four horsemen arrive on the hill: Redbox, Comcast, Marketeers and Spencer Pratt. In a decade, we’re going to be watching puppet shows on network TV and not even Jeff Dunham level puppet shows. But let’s give a run down of trainwrecks that will claim the lives of entertainment business models.

Redbox is a simple concept - a kiosk that allows you to rent a hot new DVD title for a $1 a day. There will be 20,000 of them across the country in grocery stores, drugstores and Wal-marts by the end of the year. They’re a mini-Blockbuster that’s doesn’t required a zit-faced dreamer to run the register. What’s the problem with Redbox? It’s killing to DVD sales market faster than Blockbuster and Netflix. Having Redbox inside Wal-Mart wrecks the impulse buying temptation of the giant sale bin.

Chicago – “Hell is other people!” declares reclusive author Arlen Faber. That’s nothing compared to the hell of fake people, who permeate so many subpar pictures marketed as “indie” entertainment. There’s not a single character in “The Answer Man” that feels the least bit realistic. There’s not a single line of dialogue that sounds as if it was spontaneously spoken, instead of typed by a screenwriter with a slick Thesaurus. But most importantly, the film doesn’t work because its characters are simply undeserving of the required audience empathy. It’s impossible to care about anyone on the screen, or anything that happens to them.

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.0/5.0

So why is this film a mediocre dud rather than a catastrophic failure? Because it is populated by gifted actors who try to inject the contrived material with vibrant life. Jeff Daniels is one of the most appealing actors in modern cinema,...

The biggest DVD and Blu-ray release for this week is probably G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. It pains me to know that this week some brave souls will give it another chance, while others will discover its sheer idiocy for the first time. If you're looking for something slightly better but still mediocre, you might try Tony Scott's remake of The Taking of Pelham 123. Other smaller releases for the week include Dolph Lundgren's direct-to-dvd action flick Command Performance, the Spanish post-apocalyptic flick Before The Fall, and the G.I. Joe Resolute animated microseries. Also keep an eye out for a few noteworthy documentaries this week including Food Inc., The English Surgeon, and the John Hughes doc Don't You Forget About Me (in Canada only). Plus: James Bond and Rocky collections on Blu-ray, and the only partially redundant Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut! Will you be picking anything up this week?...

[Disclaimer: Despite research and a pretty good memory, some of the quotes below may not be exact, but the spirit of the words is clear and intact.] It started last month at the opening night of the Stony Brook Film Festival, the university-based bash for Long Island movie lovers. The film that evening was a trifle called The Answer Man, in which Jeff Daniels alleged a special relationship with God and, based on that, had garnered a reputation for knowing everything. It was inevitable, thus, that someone would ask him about the existence of hell. "There is a hell," he said. "And its name is Reno, Nevada." Having been in Reno, I could pretty much agree with that (although anyone I've met who lives there has been very nice). Whatever, this started discussion with various people about the movie lines they found...

Aug 07, 2009 How can a film with two of the best young actresses of their generation in the supporting cast and the great Jeff Daniels and underrated Lauren Graham as its leads go wrong? Impossible, you say? Kat Dennings and Olivia Thirlby are talented enough that they can carry anything across the "thumbs up" threshold and Daniels and Graham are so incredibly likable and consistent that The Answer Man can't really be bad? Before I saw it, I would have probably agreed. Now, I know the answer.

Lead Arlen Faber (Jeff Daniels) comes from the school of ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com...

Here's a quick look at what's opening in limited release this weekend. If they're not playing where you live, keep an eye out as they make the rounds. And if all else fails, there's always DVD.

In the Loop (pictured), a smart, snarky, and hilarious British political comedy, is now playing in New York, L.A., San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Cambridge, Mass. It's one of the best-reviewed comedies of the year so far, with a 93% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Cinematical's James Rocchi, reviewing it at Sundance, called it "achingly, wrenchingly, dizzyingly funny, with a bleak, bitter sense of humor."

The Answer Man premiered at Sundance under the title Arlen Faber and is now hitting theaters in New York, L.A., and Philadelphia. It stars Jeff Daniels as a reclusive author of self-help books who -- get this -- is actually really screwed up! The mom from...

Welcome back to another edition of Insert Caption -- the game that asks you to blatantly make fun of guinea pigs in exchange for some fabulous prizes. Last week asked you to shovel out some cute and cuddly captions for a photo from The Answer Man, and, luckily for us, three of you were up to that challenge. Congrats to you for answering our caption call!

1. "It wasn't until Olivia made it to the office before someone finally told her - there's no such thing as "no pants Tuesday." -- Drew B.

2. "Well, your announcement is a bit of a surprise, but we support you. However, there was no need to literally 'come out of' that closet behind us." -- Nathan T.

3. "And next up on our slideshow...Oh look sweety, it's the night we conceived you!" -- Micah F.

See full image and all captions

This week we're throwing...

The voters have spoken, and talking CG animated guinea pigs are not what they want. The clear winner of this week's Box Office Poll is psych thriller "Orphan," about an adopted girl who seems just a little bit... off. Not "watch her or she might break something" off. More "oh crap, what is she doing with that bloody knife" off. Whatever her problem is, she nabbed 61% of your votes.

The other two big wide releases for the week -- the aforementioned guinea pig-driven family adventure "G-Force" and the Katherine Heigl/Gerard Butler rom-com "The Ugly Truth" -- are pretty much neck-and-neck as we round into the final few hours of this week's poll. The CG feature has a slight edge, with 23% of your votes as compared to 21% for "Ugly."

Only 6% of you are choosing to catch up on an older release, though my guess is that "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince...

Editor’S Note: This interview was originally published as part of indieWIRE’s coverage of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. “The Answer Man” follows Arlen Faber (Jeff Daniels), the reclusive author of Me and God, a book that has redefined spirituality for an entire generation. On the eve of the twentieth anniversary of his still-wildly-popular book, Arlen continues to be sought after as the man with all the answers. Then his life collides …...

Editor’S Note: This interview was originally published as part of indieWIRE’s coverage of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. “The Answer Man” follows Arlen Faber (Jeff Daniels), the reclusive author of Me and God, a book that has redefined spirituality for an entire generation. On the eve of the twentieth anniversary of his still-wildly-popular book, Arlen continues to be sought after as the man with all the answers. Then his life collides …...

Editor’S Note: This interview was originally published as part of indieWIRE’s coverage of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. “The Answer Man” follows Arlen Faber (Jeff Daniels), the reclusive author of Me and God, a book that has redefined spirituality for an entire generation. On the eve of the twentieth anniversary of his still-wildly-popular book, Arlen continues to be sought after as the man with all the answers. Then his life collides …...

This weekend is one of the few that doesn't wasn't claimed by a highly anticipated blockbuster this summer, probably because no one wants to follow up Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. While that movie will still probably dominate the box office, there are three new wide releases competing for your money including the animated action-comedy G-Force, the horror film Orphan, and the Gerard Butler/Katherine Heigl romantic comedy The Ugly Truth. In select theatres we have the political comedy In The Loop and the Kevin Spacey dramedy Shrink, but it's also a good weekend to catch (500) Days of Summer or The Hurt Locker if you still haven't seen either one. What are you planning to see this weekend? G-Force [1] The Ugly Truth [2] Orphan [3] In The Loop [4] (limited) Shrink [5] (limited) The Answer Man [6] (limited) (500) Days of Summer [7] (expanding) The Hurt Locker [8] (expanding) [1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436339/ [2] http://www.

Release Date: July 24 (limited)

Director/Writer: John Hindman

Cinematographer: Oliver Bokelberg

Starring: Jeff Daniels, Lauren Graham, Lou Taylor Pucci, Kat Dennings, Olivia Thirlby

Studio/Run Time: Magnolia Pictures, 95 mins.

Not enough answers

In The Answer Man, Arlen Faber (Daniels) has attained Oprah-level cult status after penning a book called Me and God, a book that “redefined spirituality for a generation.” But unlike Oprah, Arlen hasn’t made a single public appearance since his book was published 20 years ago—no readings, no lectures, no television appearances. Instead, hiding out in his Philadelphia townhouse, he’s insulated himself from the masses.

I have one question for "The Answer Man": How did you get made?

This shopworn and utterly contrived romantic comedy stars Jeff Daniels as the grumpy author of a popular book about his conversations with God.

He is a recluse hiding in plain sight in Philadelphia, where his back spasms send him literally crawling to the local chiropractor (Lauren Graham).

I could see the sparks flying, but they were being generated by my back teeth. The two principals bat around their cute neuroses (he is particular about his collection of toy monsters,...

The Answer Man combines the worst of both worlds: It offers the ugly digital video, negligible production values, and manufactured grit of a Sundance loser with the pandering formula, sentiment, and romantic-comedy clichés of Hollywood pap. Unoriginality is the greatest and most flagrant of its many sins; it’s essentially a faux-indie As Good As It Gets with Jeff Daniels reprising his Squid And The Whale role as a misanthropic writer who views humanity as an unfortunate disease to be avoided at all costs. But where Daniels’ Whale arch-snob was genuinely malevolent and sour, his protagonist here has a ...

Arlen Farber is not a particularly nice man, he is rude to practically everyone he meets, and even knows, and is very much comfortable with the idea of being a hermit. What he also is, is a writer of a hit book “God and Me” which is currently about to hit its 20 year anniversary. One day, Farber is suddenly hit with some serious back pain, causing him to fall down to the floor barely able to move. When his agent walks out on him for being rude to her, he decides to crawl his way over to a chiropractor. There, he is fixed up by Elizabeth, a single mom whom he instantly falls for. During his attempts to woo her, he also helps out a struggling alcoholic named Kris, who wants answers to his life problems.

The Answer Man is a romantic comedy that is more or less paint by numbers.

Well it’s been a real long time since I have seen a real good comedy flick from Jeff Daniels, honestly my favorite from him has always been “Dumb and Dumber”. Now walking into the film I honestly wasn’t expecting much, it was a new director and lately the work Daniels has put it out was hit in miss. But after viewing the film, it was certainly a lot better then I expected but not quite the masterpiece I was looking for.

So we have our main character Arlen Faber who wrote a famous religious book called “God and Me” which is a huge hit across the world and is even written in a hundred different languages. But now is about to hit its twentieth anniversary, Faber played by Jeff Daniels is this reclusive bitter hermit author, who wants nothing to do with the outside world. Until one day his back goes out,...

Actress Lauren Graham has long had her share of fans thanks to her role playing cool and sassy mom Lorelai to Alexis Bledel on the popular long-running show "Gilmore Girls." Since the show ended a few years ago, Graham has been appearing here and there in various movies, and her latest one is The Answer Man , the directorial debut by John Hindman, which stars Jeff Daniels as Arlen Faber, the reclusive writer of a spiritual self-help book who has been hiding from society in the 20 years since writing it. Graham plays a chiropractor who helps Arlen come out of hiding, turning to him for advice on dealing with the son she's been raising alone since her husband left them. It's first and foremost a comedy with a bit of romance between Daniels and Graham, but it's also an...

Indie Roundup reviews the past week of news from the independent film community and provides a peek at what's coming soon.

Openings. James Gandolfini is the most notable cast member in the highly-praised, acerbic political / military comedy In the Loop, which James Rocchi wrote warmly about when he saw it at Sundance. Reclusive author Jeff Daniels is pursued for advice by single mother Lauren Graham in the comedy The Answer Man. Kevin Spacey is a celebrity Shrink facing serious problems of his own. Highly-recommended thriller The Hurt Locker expands into 200 theaters.

I'm singling out Tommy Davis' very good doc One Minute to Nine, which gets a one-week run in New York and Los Angeles starting on Friday, because I saw it last year and it's stayed with me. Wendy Maldonado, single mother of four, is headed to prison, and it's not immediately apparent why. Davis tells the story of Wendy's life,...

The City of Brotherly Love is glutted with fathers, sons, and the holy ghost in The Answer Man, writer-director John Hindman's debut film. The specter of some of the most tiresome traits of Amerindie cinema also looms over the story of Arlen Faber (Jeff Daniels), a reclusive writer made whole again through the healing connection to single-mom chiropractor Elizabeth (Lauren Graham) and 12-stepping used-bookstore manager Kris (Lou Taylor Pucci).

Jeff Daniels as God's (supposed) interlocutor in The Answer Man. Jeff Daniels has two movies coming out this summer, Away We Go and The Answer Man. By Hollywood standards, he would have been keeping busy even if he weren’t performing eight nights a week on the smash Tony-winning Broadway play God of Carnage. Or writing plays (good ones at that, according to him) for the Purple Rose Theater Company, which he started 20 years ago in his home state of Michigan. Or playing music in small-town venues across the Northeast, singing songs that skewer the movie business. In The Answer Man, out Friday, he plays Arlen Faber, a reclusive, Salingeresque author who rests on his copious bed of laurels 20 years after publishing the one book he had in him: a phenomenal bestseller called Me and God, in which he claims to be on speaking terms with the Almighty. Given the...

Jeff Daniels seems to have done it all over his lengthy career, from blockbuster action ("Speed") to slapstick comedy ("Dumb and Dumber") to war epics ("Gettysburg") and indie dramas ("The Squid and the Whale"). If his screen work and raising a family didn't keep him busy enough, Daniels is also a playwright, a two-time feature director, a singer-songwriter and the founder of the Purple Rose Theatre Company (named after the Woody Allen film in which he starred) in his home state of Michigan. Currently, he's also been performing onstage in Broadway's "God of Carnage," for which he was recently awarded a Tony nomination.

In the movie world, though, Daniels can next be seen in the indie rom-com "The Answer Man" (formerly titled "Arlen Faber" at Sundance, sharing the name of his character). He plays a reclusive author whose chartbusting self-help book "Me and God" has been changing people's lives for 20 years,...

A small smattering of romantic fare amongst the new releases this week lines up alongside some caustic political satire, a couple of dark chillers, somber documentaries, and a string of grouchy gurus.

Download this in audio form (MP3: 13:52 minutes, 19.1 Mb) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [Xml] [iTunes]

"The Answer Man"

Having quietly transformed himself into one of the most versatile character actors working today, Jeff Daniels returns to leading man duties for this romantic indie, the feature debut of writer/director John Hindman. Daniels plays Arlen Faber, the author of a worldwide bestselling page-turner on spirituality who's spent the following 20 years living the life of a reclusive malcontent. Lauren Graham of "Gilmore Girls" fame co-stars as a widowed chiropractor with a troubled son who reawakens Faber's erstwhile interest in people.

Opens in New York and Los Angeles.

"California Company Town"

With the Golden State scrambling to avoid bankruptcy, performance...

It's rare that a movie manages to be both graceful and biting at the same time, let alone smart, funny and sweet. But The Answer Man fills the bill. The directorial debut of writer-director John Hindman, The Answer Man deals with the big questions, even as it tells a personal story. In this romantic comedy about finding the courage to confront life, Hindman takes an old-fashioned approach: He actually lets people talk to each other as they struggle with their burdens. On the surface, The Answer Man is about Arlen Faber (Jeff Daniels), a hugely famous author of a single book, Me and God, which is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Not that it's made Arlen happy: He lives an anonymous life in Philadelphia, zealously guarding his identity (apparently the original book didn't include an author photo) as he tries to...

John Hindman's debut film, The Answer Man (nee Arlen Faber on IMDb.com), is a sweet, gentle, Frank Capra-ish slice of life involving a cranky writer, Arlen Farber (Jeff Daniels), who's become a virtual recluse following the crazy, runaway success of his first book, Me and God. After years of hiding in brownstone Philadelphia, what gets him out of the house is crippling back pain, where he gets mixed up with a bookstore owner (Lou Taylor Pucci), fresh out of rehab, looking for the answers and a single mom (Lauren Graham, playing a nicely shaded role) who's trying to find her own peace of mind. With a great ensemble cast - Kat Dennings, Olivia Thirlby, Arrested Development's Tony Hale, the ever-sublime Nora Dunn - this film explores fathers and sons, the effect of fame, and how people connect in the world. We talked with the droll Daniels...