Mark Wahlberg

After giving us no less than 15 (!) movies over the last two weeks, Hollywood has decided to take it easy by throwing only four films out to the multiplex crowd this weekend. Thank heavens! This gives us time to take a breath and catch up. Here's a handy guide to the weekend's new releases.

Max Payne

What's the story: Mark Wahlberg (and his dickhead attitude) stars as the titular cop who tries to avenge the death of his family by killing a bunch of people in slow motion. The beautiful Mila Kunis co-stars in a film that looks like a combination of The Matrix sequels, Constantine and a Frank Miller comic.  read more »

Sweaty BALLS! Is it time yet to empty our checking accounts (of course we don’t have any investments, real estate or 401(k), ya big silly) and flee to, eek, Quebec? Or better yet—Pompeii? Or should we just close our eyes, pretend nothing is happening and drop a couple thou on a big fancy benefit? In midtown, Hollywood grande dame Glenn Close is recognized for her contributions to the arts (lorgnettes! boiled bunnies!) at the Princess Grace Awards Gala at Cipriani. Co-chairs include Manhattan mega-broker Dolly Lenz and Law & Order creator Dick Wolf. Further west, the cologned smoothies at GQ throw a sedate  read more »

MTV is sponsoring a contest to promote the upcoming action film Max Payne starring Mark Wahlberg--and talk about the perfect setting for a gritty cop-movie gimmick!

"To celebrate the release of this slick new thriller, MTV is giving one lucky winner and a friend an NYPD trip to New York City. You’ll get flights, two-nights accommodation at the luxurious Hotel Pennsylvania..."

What, you were expecting the posh Hotel Carter?

Now, MTV wasn't around during the Swing Era, but has Kurt Loder and company bothered to peek inside the old Glenn Miller hangout recently?

(Read The Observer's extensive coverage here.)

"Save The Hotel" activist Gregory Jones once took issue with my use of the term "fleabag" to describe the dowdy would-be landmark on Seventh Avenue.

But, come on, luxurious?

Monday: Lost
It's a tradition for Lost fans to re-watch the previous season before a new season airs. But it's probably been a while since any of us have revisited the two-part pilot that sent us all down the rabbit hole of the Dharma Initiative, the black smoke monster, Ben Linus, Jack/Kate/Sawyer and everything else. (Similarly, if you never gave the show a chance, try it now! Please!) The Sci-Fi channel will air both parts tonight. Watch for Matthew Fox's signature move: the half-cry. No one's eyes can well up with water, but never tear, quite like his. [Sci Fi, 7 p.m.]

Tuesday: Gavin & Stacey
American television sorely lacks genuinely funny—and non-stereotyping—relationship sitcoms (  read more »

Here’s a teensy weensy spoiler about what’s ahead in season five of HBO’s Entourage, which starts on Sunday night. Johnny Drama gets the best line, and it involves the word “meth” (trust us: the crowd at the Ziegfeld theater for the premiere on Wednesday night roared). Beyond that, we’ll try not to ruin any surprises for what seems (hopefully) to be a return to what made Entourage so much fun in the first place.

When it first aired in the summer of 2004, Entourage bestowed a little La La Land glitz and glamour to the HBO landscape, which was sorely missing with the then-recent departure of the Sex and the City gals.  read more »

HBO is going to show us How to Make It in America with a new comedy pilot. Courtesy of Mark Wahlberg's production company, Closest to the Hole (also responsible for Entourage, In Treatment and the forthcoming  Boardwalk Empire), writer Ian Edelman will reveal how to achieve the American dream through three 20-something New Yorkers. According to the Hollywood Reporter, HBO-based producer Rob Weiss of Entourage has also signed on to offer insights from his experiences as a student at the Parsons School for Design.

"This show is a fun ride through the downtown scene, examining the cross section of people and how they relate to the relevant subcultures in NYC," Mr.  read more »

The Happening
Running Time 91 minutes
Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel and John Leguizamo

There’s a moment in the boring, brain-dead new M. Night Shyamalan film The Happening when Mark Wahlberg turns to the camera, trying to suppress a grin, and asks, “Can this really be happening?” I ask the same question every week, but it just gets worse.

It’s not a good sign when a director casts Mr. Wahlberg, a ruddy rapper-turned-actor who looks like a choirboy selling crack in the apse, as a science teacher pondering the mystery of why honeybees are disappearing from coast to coast.  read more »

After completing the film adaption of Lovely Bones, Mark Wahlberg will start shooting for a movie version of the videogame Max Payne, beginning next year, according to Variety. John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines) is directing.

Wahlberg is negotiating to play the titular cop who is haunted by the tragic loss of his family and has little regard for rules as he investigates a series of mysterious murders. He finds himself up against an adversary bent on destroying Max and the streets he protects.

One day before shooting began, Ryan Gosling walked away from his part as a greiving father in Peter Jackson's adaptation of the Alice Sebold novel, The Lovely Bones, according to Variety.

[Gosling] stepped out after gaining 20 pounds and growing a beard for the job. Sources attributed the exit to creative differences.

Mark Wahlberg will replace him.  read more »

George Clooney's Michael Clayton managed to outgross the national chart topper, Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married, in Manhattan. And there was nary a peep out of the Joy Division biopic Control.  read more »