Movies

Brandon Cronenberg says he never set out to follow in father’s footsteps

TORONTO — First-time filmmaker Brandon Cronenberg says he and his famous father find it “hilarious” to both have features debuting at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

The 32-year-old director crosses the pond tonight to introduce audiences to Antiviral, a dark take on celebrity obsession. READ

Christopher Plummer’s ‘The Tempest’ hits cinemas

It will be hard to miss Christopher Plummer this year. The Academy Award winner’s stage performance in The Tempest will be shown in hundreds of movie theatres on June 14, even as plans are in the works to have his Barrymore join it at the multiplex. READ

Johnny Depp biting off more than he can chew

Johnny Depp’s Barnabas Collins, a reluctant 18th-century vampire, looks confused when he awakes in 1972 from a 200-year slumber. READ

‘The Avengers’ assembles record box office

LOS ANGELES — Hulk, smash. That’s what Captain America tells the Incredible Hulk to do in 'The Avengers', and that’s what the Marvel Comics superhero mash-up did at the box office, smashing the domestic revenue record with a $200.3 million debut. READ

The Avengers: These superheros will unite the audience

Agent Phil Coulson will love The Avengers. READ

Cusack should retreat to comedy

If Edgar Allen Poe were alive today, working as a Hollywood screenwriter (God forbid), I suspect he’d be penning not the abysmal script for The Raven but something called The Fall of the House of Cusack. READ

Summer of popcorn flicks

Iron Man, Spider-Man, Batman and the battleship from the 1960s board game are the summer’s most prominent movie characters. Summer 2012, like all summers, will be filled with popcorn movies. But it also will offer stories for grown-ups and, on occasion, even food for thought. READ

Chimpanzee a good nature film spoiled by monkey business

Complaining about Disney attaching human characteristics to animals seems pointless and also way late — “Uncle Walt” was anthropomorphizing Mickey Mouse back in 1928 with Steamboat Willie. READ

Avengers assemble

Billionaire genius Tony Stark had to learn to play well with others in The Avengers after two Iron Man films where he was the main attraction. So did Robert Downey Jr., though his path to superhero team player came without the fisticuffs and rivalries that Stark stumbles into with his fellow Avengers, who beat up on one another a bit before they figure out how to work as a group. READ