Movies

As Hollywood types take off this last week of the summer season and possibly prepare for festival trips to Venice, Telluride and Toronto, movie news was particularly slow and sparse. The stories that did emerge include casting rumors for Guillermo del Toro's next movie and the Fantastic Four reboot, a new World War II epic to be filmed in 3D (of course!), and new roles for Bradley Cooper, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Dwayne Johnson, Chris Pine and Ryan Reynolds. There's also quite a bit of sequel news for titles like Clash of the Titans 2, Skyline 2 (already!), Unbreakable 2 (though not what you might think) and X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2.

Happy Friday Harvest, a weekly round-up of the best pictures, posters, and videos that have become available for viewing/download on Rotten Tomatoes. Each section features the favorite or most interesting item we've added for the week, along with several other new highlights. Enjoy!

No matter how talented they are, most child stars have a hard time making the jump to grown-up roles -- and Drew Barrymore, with a pair of rehab stints under her belt before she was old enough to drive, initially seemed to be having a harder go of it than most. But Barrymore's turbulent youth was just the beginning of a career that has seen her starring in, producing, and even directing some of the most successful films of the last 20 years (not to mention one of the most memorable cameos, courtesy of Scream). With Going the Distance arriving in theaters this weekend, Barrymore is poised to add to her already-impressive $1.5 billion lifetime gross, so we thought now would be the perfect time to take a look back at the brightest critical highlights. It's time for Total Recall!

This week at the movies, we've got one tough Mexican (Machete, starring Danny Trejo and Jessica Alba), long-distance lovers (Going the Distance, starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long), and a lonely assassin (The American, starring George Clooney and Thekla Reuten). What do the critics have to say? Machete started as a trailer for a fake movie, then became a real movie. It's a curious route to the multiplex, but critics say this old-school exploitation flick largely delivers -- if you're in the mood some sleazy fun with zero pretense. Also, critics say Going the Distance is light on substance and relies too heavily on the natural charm of its leads.

Shane Van Dyke went where James Cameron -- or any other filmmaker in their presumably right mind -- would dare to go. Meet the guy who mounted the epic that no-one needed, Titanic II.