The 9 Most Scathing Critical Responses to Project X

The reviews are in for the Todd Phillips-produced uber-party comedy Project X, and three out of four critics agree: It is the douchiest, most mean-spirited debauch of the year. (To date, anyway; we'll see what kind of revisionist zest Steven Spielberg and co. bring to Lincoln.) Hop aboard Movieline's scorched-earth golf cart and let's go for a spin... 9. "Youve got to hand it to Warner Brothers and producer Todd Phillips: They have painstakingly engineered the perfect film for todays attention-impaired audiences. Are you a texter? A talker? Have at it. There is no way you could make this movie stupider or more pointlessly noisy than it already is." - Sara Stewart, NY Post 8."It would be easy to say Project X objectifies women, if the word 'object' didnt imply too much dignity." - Keith Phipps, AV Club 7."Although it behaves as if its closest antecedent is a John Hughes teen movie, Project X plays more like a blend of music video, College Rules-style porn, and apocalypse-gazing. Its all hyper-sensory flash and amateur titillation, aint it cool party-dogging and an ecstatic taxonomy of all the different ways you can drink a beer." - Michelle Orange, Movieline 6."Project Xs title has no bearing on its premise: a teenage house party in a quiet Californian suburb that spirals out of control. Nor is it connected to the 1987 film of the same name in which Matthew Broderick rescues a band of tormented chimpanzees, unless perhaps the chimpanzees wrote it. [...] Overall, its flamboyantly loathsome on every imaginable level, and a great many unimaginable ones besides." - Robbie Collin, The Telegraph 5."[Oliver] Coopers brash, bragging Costa, in particular, is the most annoying movie character since Jar Jar Binks. Youd never tire of punching him. [...] Lets take all prints of the film, and bury them. Dont bother marking the spot with an X." - Chris Hewitt, Empire 4."How bad is it? It kicks off the proceedings with the soundtrack blaring the 2 Live Crew classic 'Hey, We Want Some Pussy,' and that winds up constituting the closest that it comes to both quiet dignity and quality writing. [...] It is so bad that it deploys a running gag featuring shenanigans involving a pet dog that even Michael Vick might take offense at." - Peter Sobczynski, eFilmCritic 3."It is not normal adolescent rebellion depicted here: it is sociopathic insurrection. Its an orgy of destruction that is meant to be cool. And its not a cautionary tale. Its not a warning that recognizes that real-life teenaged boys can indeed be colossal idiots sometimes, and perhaps we need to work together as a society to minimize the damage they can do, like perhaps training up our sons to be responsible citizens. Its a celebration of colossal adolescent idiocy as something we should all aspire to, and would do, if we could only be as awesomely cool as a horny 17-year-old boy." - Maryann Johanson Flick Filosopher 2."Project X is classless, mean-spirited, repugnant, deplorable, off-puttingly sleazy, and thoroughly contemptible. It is also searingly depressing - there isn't a true laugh in sight - as well as worthless on every cinematic level one could name, imagine, or dream up." - Dustin Putman, DustinPutman.com 1."[A] certain self-justifying, feel-good impulse compels the filmmakers to imply that, even if [the characters] do nothing further of note in their lives, they'll always have this. Herein lies the film's lack of point-of-view, leaving it to the viewer to decide if the import of the evening is a joke, a tragedy, an irony or a victory. Despite a couple of unconvincingly upbeat tacked-on moments at the end, Project X basically reads as nihilistic, as not believing in or standing for anything. Not even fun." - Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter Reviews via Rotten Tomatoes. Browse more of Moveline's Scathing Critical Response features here. Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

Broadcasters Ask The Court To Block Aereo, Alleging Copyright Infringement

It didn’t take long for several companies with NY television stations — including PBS, Fox Television, Univision, and WPIX — to challenge the new firm that wants to sell Web streams of the broadcasters’ over-the-air transmissions. (UPDATE: ABC, CBS and NBC Universal also filed a complaint today against Aereo along with a statement: This service is based on the illegal use of our content. Beyond that, we believe the complaint speaks for itself.”) Aereo said last month that it would launch its $12 a month subscription service in the Big Apple on March 14. In addition to retransmitting TV signals, Aereo — backed in part by Barry Diller — would offer customers the ability to record and watch shows on demand,much like they would with a DVR. But the station owners asked the U.S. District Court in NY to issue an injunction, alleging that the new business “free rides on (the stations’) substantial investment in their broadcasting infrastructure.” The rights that they buy to their content are “the economic foundation upon which the television production and distribution industries rest.” If the court doesn’t act, the plaintiffs say, then Aereo will undermine the stations’ ability to create business opportunities by streaming their content. National Association of Broadcasters spokesman Dennis Wharton says the group “strongly supports” the suit.”A plaintiffs’ win in this case will ensure the continued availability of (free and diverse) programming to the viewing public.” Prior to today’s action, Aereo said that it was not infringing on broadcasters’ rights: The company has a tiny antenna, about the size of a dime, for each customer.In effect, subscribersrent them to pick up the free, over-the-air signals that they also can receive at home. The argument is similar to the one that Cablevision successfully made in court on behalf of its remote storage DVR.

Remember Leap Year?

In honor of Feb. 29, and just for fun, let's flash back for a moment to the first horrible movie of the '10s. Take it away, Michelle Orange: "It's hard to care about the shabby treatment of the Irish, the Italian, or Amy Adams's poor, spindly ankles when one's own honor is called into question by the film's specious, finger-wagging terms. Every time an Irishman fell off of his chair or dispensed a tediously quaint piece of folklore, every time the decrepitude of Ireland's public works was asserted with a wink, and every time Amy Adams unloaded a shrill expectation that was met with abject humiliation, I felt a little more sorry for myself. Is this really what you think of me, Mr. Tucker? Is this what you think we all deserve? [...] This one's a heart-sinker, fromage of the smelliest order; I am mystified by its existence." Happy leap day!

Dwts Uncovers Season 14 Cast

Smash Ok, large hugs for you if you are still hanging inside with Smash. Following a stellar pilot, a powerful second episode along with a strangely uneven visit to a Area karaoke bar a week ago, NBC's splashy rankings-deterrent returned to being fabulous using the kick-from rehearsals for Marilyn: The Musical last evening. A lot of music, a not-hateful guest place from one of these there Jonas Siblings, an indication concerning the falling-out between former buds Tom and Derek...really, the only real factor missing would be a good Eileen martini-toss and also the violent, sudden and fatal run-among a runaway taxi and awful Ellis that people continue to be praying for. However the real high note would be a much-needed emotional transformation for Katharine McPhee's Karen. Around we like her to be a Broadway newbie having a heart of gold (along with a voice of awesome), if she's gonna have the ability to go foot to foot using the extreme-featured Ivy Lynn, Miss Golden Sprout's gonna require a thicker skin plus some NY-style sass. Which is what she began to build up last evening, because of her three new chorus-klatch besties and what's quickly becoming probably the most overused Adele song. Plus, McPhee is simply flat-out fantastic. Our only wish is the fact that more and more people understood this. With audiences running the show faster compared to crowd inside a burning theatre, they are passing up on a star turn that warrants to appear and heard. Would you agree? Is Smash must still-see for you personally? Sign up for TV Guide Magazine now!

Erland Josephson, Bergman Star, Dead at 88

I was just speaking about Moments From the Marriage, too: The Swedish actor-author-director Erland Josephson has died carrying out a protracted fight with Parkinson's Disease. He was 88. Josephson found prominence like a friend, theater friend and eventual ensemble player for that great Ingmar Bergman, finally entering the key-guy ranks within the filmmaker's seminal relationship epic Moments before eventually diversifying with roles in films by Peter Greenaway (Prospero's Books), Philip Kaufman (The Intolerable Light to be) and, most indelibly, Andrei Tarkovsky, who cast Josephson in the 1986 masterpiece The Sacrifice. Very sad. R.I.P. [NYT]

Spartacus Alum Jai Courtney Lands Coveted Die Hard Lead

EXCLUSIVE: An extended search is finished, and twentieth century Fox has set Jai Courtney to experience the boy of John McClane (Bruce Willis) inside a Good Day To Die Hard, the 5th installment from the Die Hard franchise. John Moore will direct a movie that's been dated for Feb 14, 2013 release. Alex Youthful is creating. This can be a large surprise, because the studio, Moore and Willis met a lot of rising youthful stars, simply to expand the search several occasions. Courtney hadn’t been in any one of individuals short lists which i’d heard about, however i accept is as true came lower to Courtney and Liam Hemsworth, the Hunger Games star. Courtney is possibly most widely known for enjoying Varro within the Starz series Spartacus: Bloodstream and Sand. He was the close confidante of Spartacus until these were forced right into a fight towards the dying. Courtney most lately continues to be starring opposite Tom Cruise in Vital’s One Shot, the Christopher McQuarrie-directed adaptation from the Lee Child bestseller. He's also mounted on star opposite Aaron Eckhart in I, Frankenstein. He's repped by UTA and also the Collective. A Great Day to Die Hard puts McClane with an worldwide stage, a classic New york city seafood from water in Moscow, and introduces his estranged boy Jack (Jai Courtney). An apple which has not fallen not even close to the tree, Jack might even become more of the hardass than his father. Despite their variations, they have to interact to help keep one another alive and the planet safe for democracy. This positions Courtney to carry on later on payments from the franchise with Willis, who last reprised his franchise character in 2007. DEVELOPING…

U.S. deal for '28 Hotel Rooms'

'28 Hotel Rooms'Gotham-based distrib Oscilloscope Laboratories has picked up U.S. rights to "28 Hotel Rooms," which bowed earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. Pic is targeted for a theatrical run later this year prior to a VOD release. Writer-helmer Matt Ross' film centers on a couple's increasingly intense romance, starting with a one-night stand that develops into something deeper. Chris Messina and Marin Ireland star. Closed in Berlin, the distribution pact was negotiated by David Fenkel and David Laub of Oscilloscope with Kevin Iwashina, Christine D'Souza (both of Preferred Content) and Elsa Ramo. Lynette Howell, Louise Runge and Samantha Housman produce, with Messina, Andrew Meieran, Stefan Nowicki, Joey Carey and Alex Sagalchik on board as exec producers. Elle Driver is currently hawking rights in international territories at the European Film Market. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com