Everyone is thinking it: Arthur, Dudley Moore’s 1981 comedy about a lonely billionaire, didn’t need to be remade. But to have comic/actor/all-around crazy guy Russell Brand fill Moore’s shoes and swap the character’s butler for a nanny — played by Helen Mirren! — and suddenly update the classic doesn’t sound like such a bad idea. Read more

In Catherine Hardwicke’s “Red Riding Hood,” the titular character of the classic fairy tale is no longer referred to as an item of clothing: Her name is Valerie. And she’s all grown up, torn between the man she loves and the man she’s been arranged to marry, her emotions further taxed as her town battles a werewolf. Amanda Seyfried, blessed with a fairy-tale face, plays Valerie and here talks with her director about the look of the film, its modern touches, and why Valerie is far from a damsel in distress. Read more

When Miguel Arteta’s broadly, sweetly funny Cedar Rapids opens Friday, Anne Heche, who stars as the sole woman in a group of misbehaving insurance agents, might finally get her nationwide due as the gifted comedian she’s technically been for the last fifteen years.

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Ben Foster’s most critically acclaimed role to date was as a quietly tortured military man who delivered news of soldiers’ deaths in “The Messenger.” So his participation in a straight-up action flick, “The Mechanic,” is a bit of a shock. Co-starring with stuntmaster Jason Statham in the remake of Charles Bronson’s 1972 original, Foster toughened up and decided he wasn’t about to let something like vertigo — or even the possibility of death — prevent him from doing his own stunts, too. Particularly one of the movie’s most stunning: a free-fall off the side of a 450-foot building. Read more

The assassin at the center of The Mechanic is a man of precise action and few words. The 1972 original starred, naturally, Charles Bronson. Now the current remake recruited an actor who’s perhaps destined in fill Bronson’s shoes: the reticent Transporter and Crank star, Jason Statham. Read more

Anthony Hopkins will perhaps always be best known for having eaten someone’s liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. But frightening audiences Hannibal Lecter-style is so 1991: In “The Rite,” Hopkins’ latest film, the devil literally makes him do it. Read more

Owen Wilson is a busy guy, particularly this month. Not only was he busy promoting How Do You Know, but this weekend’s release Little Fockers, too. Right after the Little Fockers press conference, Wilson bolted to promote How Do You Know and then came back to talk Fockers. All it took was a little Sports Center, a bowl of oatmeal and some fruit and Wilson was ready to go. Read more>>

Clint Eastwood is still directing at the age of 80 — which should make him feel pretty lucky. His latest film, “Hereafter,” starring Matt Damon, Cecile De France, Jay Mohr and twin newcomers George and Frankie McLaren, deals with the afterlife, specifically near-death experiences and communicating with those who’ve passed, all wrapped up in the larger issue of fate. Written by “The Queen” scribe Peter Morgan, “Hereafter” incorporates real-world events into its fictional story, including Eastwood’s biggest filming challenge: The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. Read more

Award winning actress, best selling author and social activist, Marlo Thomas is a very busy woman. She’s recently filmed a new movie with Demi Moore and Miley Cyrus and plans to star in a Broadway play next season. Her web site, MarloThomas.com, launches on AOL just as her latest book “Growing Up Laughing: My Story and the Story of Funny” is being published. Read more

The essential ingredient in movies is timing, so the return of iconic Gordon Gekko couldn’t be more welcome. Oliver Stone’s 1987 original “Wall Street” was intended as a cautionary tale but became, instead, an inspiration to financial power players. Read more