Angelina Jolie And Sarah Jessica Parker Top Forbes Magazine's Highest Paid Actresses List

Apart from being a business magazine, Forbes Magazine is perhaps most most well known for its annual lists of the wealthiest people in various fields such as sports and film as well as their Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans. They have recently released their list of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood and to be honest there are no real shocks here. It's pretty much the usual suspects with newbie Kristen Stewart (Twilight Saga) thrown in for good measure but that's hardly a surprise. Check out the full list below:

1. Angelina Jolie and Sarah Jessica Parker - $30 000 000

3. Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon - $28 000 000

5. Julia Roberts and Kristen Stewart - $20 000 000

7. Katherine Heigl - $19 000 000

8. Cameron Diaz - $18 000 000

9. Sandra Bullock - $15 000 000

10. Meryl Streep - $10 000 000

Source: Forbes Magazine

Do think any of these actresses deserved what they were paid? Who would you rather see in this top 10 list?

Say It Isn't So

According to the Huffington Post, Johnny Depp is said to be in talks for Pirates of the Caribbean 5. The reason? The fourth film, On Stranger Tides, was thought to be a 'fresh start' for the series. This was no doubt as there was no sign of Orlando Bloom or Keira Knightley. Somehow I think the 'fresh start' has more to do with the ringing of the cash register rather than any attempts at inconsequential things like story, plot, pacing.


Is there really a need to drag out a story based on a Disney park ride to five, five, 3 hour long movies? Yes the first was fun, the second was okay, by the third it felt like been-there-done-that, and the fourth was kind of fun, but not entirely redeemed by Penelope Cruz and a new storyline. Does sucking every last ounce of life out of an idea always work?

One quick trip down memory lane will attest. Jaws 4: The Revenge. Policy Academy 4, 5, 6......Lethal Weapon 4, 5. Die Hard, even. And that one started fabulously. When the heck does someone call it a day? When it goes straight from studio to DVD?

I won't be watching another Pirates film. How about you?

Adam Sandler and Dexter's Daddy join forces

Adam Sandler receiving his spot on Hollywood's Walk of Fame

Comedic stalwart Adam Sandler and a few other funny people have been confirmed to voice characters in Sony Pictures Animation's new 3D family comedy, Hotel Transylvania, Hitfix said on Tuesday.

Adam Sandler is gathering some scary pals for the 3D family comedy "Hotel Transylvania" for Sony Pictures Animation. Sandler will voice the lead role of Dracula in a comedy homage to classic monsters movies. The movie will be directed by the genius who created the cartoons: Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack; Genndy Tartakovsky.

The movie also features The King of Queens' Kevin James, as Frankenstein, the Nanny's Fran Drescher as the Bride, Just Shoot Me's David Spade as Quasimodo, singer Cee Lo Green as the Mummy, and the best thing about Saturday Night Live, Andy Samberg, as Jonathan, a 21-year-old man who checks into the hotel. Brilliant actor Steve Buscemi, and Molly Shannon will also feature.

Many people may be tired of Sandler's bad romantic comedies and corny children's movies but the ensemble cast and talented director should result in a good film. It will be better received than Sandler's 2D animated movie, 8 Crazy Nights (2002), which was decent, I thought.

Alistair Anderson

5 Things I Want To See In Transformers 4

With the latest film in the giant fighting robots franchise on course for $416 million worldwide in it's first seven days of release, it's likely that it will top at out at over $1 billion worldwide and thereby making it a no-brainer that there will indeed be a Transformers 4 in the near future. Director Michael Bay and lead actor Shia LaBeouf have confirmed that they won't be back for the next instalment so it is pretty much guaranteed that Transformers 4 will be reboot. As much as I've mostly enjoyed all three films (even the supposedly abysmal Revenge Of The Fallen) there are some changes that I would like to see in the next film. Here are my suggestions for Transformers 4:

1. More Cybertron Please!

If Avatar made one contribution to humankind, it was to show that the general movie-going public isn't as averse to strange new CGI worlds as most Hollywood execs would have you believe. Therefore I believe that there's no good reason why the next Transformers shouldn't be set mostly, perhaps entirely, on Cybertron. Hopefully it'll be a prequel where we get to see how the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons first broke out. That would pretty awesome.

2. A Half-decent Screenplay Would Be Nice

A reboot requires fresh new ideas and therefore Paramount needs to hire a new screenwriter for the next batch of sequels. Ehren Kruger's screenplays have been the weakest link of the last two films so he definitely needs to go and hopefully they bring in some new writing talent.

3. Bring On The Dinobots

If you think that Transformers that change into cars look cool, wait till you see the Dinobots who, you guessed it, transform into dinosaurs. They're pretty cool and badass plus they would be an awesome way of introducing the wider world to an expanded Transformers universe so I'm definitely keen on seeing them on the big screen.

4. Less Humans, More Robots

This ties in to points 1 and 3 but I want to emphasise it because this really is what Transformers is all about. The events that take place on Earth form a relatively small part of the canon and I believe that the best way for the series to reboot is to move away from Earth to other more exotic and frankly interesting parts of the Transformers universe.

5. NO MORE DORKY HUMOUR!!!

Please for the love of God make it stop! A straightforward action-thriller, no-nonsense Transformers would be the best thing ever. The humour in the current series is at best unfunny but mostly excruciating to sit through.

What changes would you like to see in the next Transformer film?

The South African Box Office Report

Welcome to our weekly box office report where we reveal the Top 10 films in South Africa over the last weekend. See the full chart after the jump.

Trailer Roundup: Spy Kids 4, The Three Musketeers and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Here are a few trailers for you to enjoy. Sometimes trailers give away the plot to films they preview but they can be entertaining nonetheless. Enjoy:

Spy Kids: All The Time In The World



Why is there a fourth Spy Kids movie? None of the first three were good films but some youngsters enjoyed them. Robert Rodriguez directs again. I think he was lucky in making the Desperado series, including Once Upon A Time in Mexico, as every film he has helmed since has been rather unimpressive in my opinion, except for Sin City, which was excellent. Jessica Alba starred in that and she features in this new Spy Kids film too. Perhaps she will deliver an interesting performance? She probably has some kind of motherly or old-sister role so that could force more out of her.

The Three Musketeers



We have another Three Musketeers movie. This one could me worse than the watchable 1994 movie or maybe even better. It is quite difficult to predict, seeing that it has the likes of Mathhew Macfadyen, Christoph Waltz and even Orlando, what happened to him, Bloom. It also features Mads Mikkelsen and Milla Jovovich. These actors all have shown some level of quality in their performances but the sometimes awful, hardly ever good, Paul W.S. Anderson directs. I would be less critical of him since I enjoyed his Event Horizon, Resident Evil movies and Mortal Kombat, which he directed but he made a weak Death Race. This guy has been an action movie man his whole career but hopefully he will couple this film with a decent storyline and acting.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy



In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons. - Imdb.com

This film may be very good, given the fact that it is based on a John le Carré novel and is directed by Let the Right One In director Tomas Alfredson. The cast is a who's who of cool, many up and coming British actors; Benedict Cumberbatch, Ciaran Hinds, Colin Firth, Gary Oldman, Mark Strong, Simon McBurney, Tom Hardy I expect a clever, well-made British thriller. (Gary Oldman and Colin Firth are established, I realise).

America's Sweethearts?

The negative press emanating off the latest Tom Hanks film Larry Crowne could power an entire nuclear waster disposal unit for the rest of humanity's existence. It has yet to release here, so I'm not going to join in the trend. But it did make me think about Hollywood, the career of an actor or actress and the damage of the typecast.

Last night I watched A Breath of Scandal, a rather forgettable but pleasant enough oldie with Sophia Loren as a spoilt Viennese princess who falls in love with an American (John Gavin, who I can't say rings any huge bells). But to my point, La Loren pouts her way through the material looking bleached and frou-frou. If you looked closer, you could make out the rumblings of the superb actress underneath, but it was hard to tell under all that cheese. Which led me to wonder. Would we have Sophia Loren screen icon, if she had been typecast earlier in her career. I doubt it.

Tom Hanks likes to play a lovable, nice guy who sort of stumbles upon extraordinary circumstances (Splash, Big, The Green Mile, Cast Away, The Terminal), when he's not acting as a slightly slow Gump of a man (Forrest Gump), voicing a toy cowboy (Toy Story franchise), and every now and then breaking the mold (Philadelphia, Road to Perdition). He is a multiple Oscar winner and to all intents and purposes, a movie hero, an American sweetheart. Slow and steady.
So what's with his apparent lack of pulling power?

Maybe audiences, who have grown used to Tom Hanks over the years, know what they're going to get. If it's Tom Hanks, well, you know that it will probably be a good film, and it will probably have the right elements of drama and comedy, and slightly bittersweet ending.

And maybe that's enough to have them staying at home content to wait for the DVD or the TV re-run. Just a thought.

Which was your favourite Tom Hanks?

Snow White To Be A Trilogy

Kirsten Stewart at the 82nd Academy Awards

Film site TotalFilm.com reported on Monday that the new Snow White And The Huntsman film will be a trilogy.
Producer Joe Roth said the Kristen Stewart-starring fairytale revamp would constitute three films.

"It's meant to be the first in a series of films," he said.

"This story will end, but there will be questions remaining for these three characters."

It sounds to me like a Stewart-vehicle to make yet more money. She has been in a bunch of Twilight films so why can she not star in another slew of fantastical movies?

She plays Snow White, who is sent away by Charlize Theron’s evil queen. Snow White then meets the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth of Thor).

"We retain the basic story in the same way we retain the basic story of Alice, a young girl meant to be the queen who is cast out," Mr Roth said.

"The Huntsman is a mercenary, in the sense that he's a guy who is very able in the woods, more able than most anyone. His job is to capture runaway girls, who are all fleeing the kingdom because of the queen.

"He's a nondescript bounty hunter, as we first meet him... He's not a nice guy, but not only that he’s someone who has lost hope and lost faith. He has lost his wife, given up on everything," he said.

I think Hemsworth may be able to act but Stewart leaves me with questions. Theron may make a good queen.

Alistair Anderson

Bridesmaids Better Than Sex And The City

Who'd have thought it? Judd Apatow's gross-out comedy for women has topped Sex and the City to become the top R-rated female comedy of all time.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, SATC earned a $152.6 million with Bridesmaids already coming in at $152.9 million. And that was before the Independence Day end of run.

This is somewhat reassuring. Somewhat in that I can't see any other female ensemble cast comedies waiting in the wings. Sure, we've got the drama, like the recent For Coloured Girls, and any number of similar 'he did me wrong' stuff, ditto the traditional romcom. But funny women together? Let's see if this marks a change. I won't hold my breath.

Dare I even ask, do you think female comedies are funny?

Film Review: Madea's Big Happy Family

Rating: 3/10 - Terrible

Love him or hate him, the fairly consistent box office earnings of Tyler Perry's films mean that he sure knows how to please his core audience. Whether or not the actual films are any good is debatable because box office earnings are NOT directly proportional to great film making. So is the latest film in the Madea series any good? See my full review after the jump.

Film Review - Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Rating: 5.5/ 10- Average

The third film in the Transformers series has proven to match up with the two previous films. It is not much better and not worse, pretty much the same things happen with a slight change in storyline.

DVD Review: Toy Story 3

Rating: 8.5/10 - Excellent


Toy Story 3 may be a seen as a child's film about talking toys but it was made for adults who grew up with its predecessors. The first film in the trilogy was groundbreaking for its use of 3-D animation and well-written story. The second was a decent follow-up. The third finishes the tale well. It may make some adult viewers feel nostalgic but will also gain some new child fans, who could then watch the first two films.

DVD Review: How Do You Know

Rating: 3/10 - Very Bad

There is said to be a curse that affects the Best Actress Oscar winners. They either lose their errant husbands, choose dud roles or slide into obscurity. Or all three. I was hopeful that Reese Witherspoon would not be one of them. From her performance in Man in the Moon to Walk the Line, she showed a certain style in her choice of film. Then along came this one.

Weekend TV Top 10: 01-07-2011

Hello and welcome to our weekly Friday afternoon series where we highlight the best films to watch on TV during the weekend from Friday evening till Sunday night. See what those films are after the jump.

New Spielberg: War Horse Trailer

First look at the trailer for Spielberg's latest film, set to be released later this year. Based on the children's novel of the same name, War Horse is about the relationship of a young boy and his horse set against the back-drop of the First World War.



It looks like a first-class tear jerker. What do you think?