Danny Baldwin

Danny Baldwin has been writing about film on the Internet for over a decade, initially for BucketReviews and now for Critic Speak. He holds a Master's degree in Critical Studies from the University of Southern California and in past years served as a member of both the Online Film Critics Society and the San Diego Film Critics Society. Danny's favorite films include “The 400 Blows,” “Imitation of Life" (1959), “My Neighbor Totoro” and “The Silence of the Lambs.” He lives in Los Angeles.

Filmmaker Nora Ephron dies at 71

Nora Ephron, the writer/director behind celebrated Hollywood rom-coms such as “Sleepless in Seattle” and “When Harry Met Sally…”, died today after a six-year battle with leukemia. She was 71. Ephron, who began as an essayist and novelist in the 1970s, penned her first theatrical screenplay nearly three decades ago, for Mike Nichols’ 1983 film “Silkwood,”

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“Atlas Shrugged: Part 2” sets release date, hires team of seasoned marketing execs

When producer Harmon Kaslow announced that plans to make an “Atlas Shrugged” trilogy would continue in spite of the first film grossing a paltry $4.6 million at the domestic box office (against a $20m budget), the news was met with a great degree of surprise. But now that the sequel is in the can and

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Weekend Box Office: “Brave” tops chart, “To Rome with Love” sizzles on specialty circuit

If you read my Friday box office report, then you already knew that “Brave” would come in at #1, over tripling the gross of its nearest competitor (“Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted”). Thus, it should be of more interest to you that Woody Allen’s “To Rome with Love” grossed a bang-up $379,000 in its initial

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Friday Box Office: “Brave” slays all competition

As expected, Disney/Pixar’s “Brave” was a far-and-away #1 at the Friday box office, beating its nearest competitor, fellow opener “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” by double-digits. With a $24.5m Friday in the books, the Scotland-set animated flick should post a weekend figure in line with Pixar’s best non-sequel openings ($71m seems reasonable). Meanwhile, last week’s releases

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Casting bits: Jennifer Hudson, Marilyn Manson, and Patrick Wilson join fall TV shows

Three bits of interesting fall TV casting surfaced today, which should earn the established shows a few viewers who don’t normally watch… Jennifer Hudston will get a multi-episode arc on NBC’s musical “Smash,” which stars Katherine McPhee as a young woman working hard to make it on Broadway. Hudson will play a Tony-winner “who reached [her] Broadway dream but

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Review: “Rock of Ages”

Few Hollywood filmmakers have proven themselves to be as tone-deaf as Adam Shankman has during his recent foray into musicals. That Shankman has failed so miserably in the genre is surprising, given his background as a choreographer. But few films–let alone upbeat musicals– are as joyless and utterly lacking an understanding of cinematic kinetics as

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