Movie News and More...

So what makes a movie a success, Oscars- or box office-wise? Psychology professor Dean Simonton thinks he knows the answers. He says most critically-acclaimed movies are R-rated and based on a true story or a novel. You can read more about the article here . I should mention a funny thing (for me at least) that was mentioned in the article. Tom O'Neil of theenvelope.com expresses his rather not so positive thoughts on movie critics and why they usually give bright reviews to fairly obscure movies. I tend to agree with him.

Here are movies opening this weekend, via IMDB, and ranked according to personal familiarity with the movie and/or actors in the movie. The Invasion - Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig. Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, James McTeigue. Superbad - Michael Cera, Jonah Hill. Directed by Greg Mottola. The Last Legion - Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley, Aishwarya Rai. Directed by Doug Lefter.

Video formats are in another war. It's like the VHS-Betamax battle of the past, but this time, it's Blu-ray vs HD DVD. It's a catch-22 situation: manufacturers want the consumers to decide once and for all which format will win by letting them buy which DVD format they want. Consumers, however, don't want to shell out money on something that they're not even sure will be supported after a few years. There are players that support both type of DVDs, but they're expensive. Right now you can say it's a fairly even battle. HD DVD players are generally cheaper so many people buy them, but many film companies have decided to sell only Blu-ray DVDs. Personally, I'm sticking with my old DVD and wait until a winner emerges.

Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker prove they still have charm over movie goers as their movie Rush Hour 3 tops the box office charts this weekend by earning a healthy $50.2 million. Stardust, another new entry this week, earned a measly $9.01 million to place 4th this week. 'Rush Hour' still in the fast lane 'Rush Hour 3' Debuts No. 1 at Box Office