Fox Theatre finally welcomes something awesome for film fans

I’ve had mixed feelings about the Fox Theatre since I arrived in Atlanta in September. I drive past it frequently on Peachtree Street on the way to assignments or friends’ places, and it’s a pretty gorgeous building. It’s clearly old. It’s clearly a landmark. It clearly stands for something.

What the crap? Oscars to allow 10 nominees in Best Picture category

Nikki Finke just posted a shocker of a story: The Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences will now nominate 10 (10!) movies for Best Picture starting with the 82nd Academy Awards next year. She assumes what’s pretty obvious: that big studios shoved this down the academy’s throats because they want shit like “Iron Man” getting Oscar nods. (It shouldn’t. That movie is awesome, but, for Christ’s sake, don’t compare it to “Slumdog Millionaire” or “No Country for Old Men” or “The Departed.” Please.)

Woody buys a Pinto

Dev Patel, left, and Freida Pinto in "Slumdog Millionaire"

After tearing it up at the Oscars last night, Freida Pinto is already landing new gigs. The “Slumdog Millionaire” banger is in Woody Allen’s umpteenth movie this year, which also stars Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins. Allen has a penchant for casting of-the-moment actors, and he tends to do it nicely, particularly in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” most recently.

People fucking love ‘Paul Blart’

For some reason, people love "Paul Blart."

People are going bonkers for “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” which has to be the most to-the-point title since “Snakes On a Plane.”

The movie raked in $21.5 million over the weekend, according to Box Office Mojo, which tracks movie revenue estimates. The movie’s estimated production budget was about $26 million, and the film has made a total of about $65 million in just two weeks. That’s some rare shit right there. Kevin James is going to be in a lot more movies about fat people falling down a lot.

REVIEW: ‘Slumdog Millionaire’

Dev Patel and Freida Pinto in "Slumdog Millionaire"

Despite the boundless cruelty of its villains, the destitution of its protagonists and the hopelessness of its setting  “Slumdog Millionaire” is a fairy tale, and it is difficult to watch the movie without keeping that firmly in mind.

As director Danny Boyle whips you through the three main characters’ desolate childhoods, he avoids the manicured poverty, the clever, focused dialogue and the safe direction of so many fantasies intent on assuring their audiences that, yes, good indeed triumphs over evil, and, yes,  our characters — the good ones, at least — are in safe hands.