Movies

There are at least a couple of different ways to motivate people into doing what you want them to do. You can offer consequences for bad behavior or rewards for good behavior. When it comes to cell phone use during movies, Cinemark is testing out a system that offers carrots rather than sticks.

CineMode is a new component to Cinemark's smartphone app for iPhone and Android. You open the app, select CineMode, follow the reminder to silence your phone, and then activate CineMode. It automatically darkens your screen. Leave it on for the duration of the film and Cinemark will send you a coupon as a reward.… Read more

Sean Connery first rocked the iconic James Bond Aston Martin DB5 in 1964's "Goldfinger." That vehicle made a reappearance in this year's blockbuster "Skyfall" with Daniel Craig at the wheel.

Spoiler alert: Craig's DB5 meets an untimely end involving flames. You can't just take a priceless real DB5 and blow it up on film, so the filmmakers turned to a high-tech prop solution: 3D printing.… Read more

It looks like the next "Star Wars" movie might get completed faster than it took to construct the second Death Star.

Disney and Lucasfilm have chosen Michael Arndt to write the screenplay for "Star Wars: Episode VII," the long-awaited follow-up to the 1983 epic "Return of the Jedi." … Read more

Some would consider Disney's announcement of acquiring Lucasfilm (and the "Star Wars" franchise) for a little over $4 billion epic enough as is. Disney stunned sci-fi fans further with the additional announcement that Star Wars: Episode VII would arrive in 2015, causing many to wonder who would direct the movie, and more importantly, who would star in it.

It might take awhile to find out who the actors in "Episode VII" will be, but at least we know that the most cantankerous of the bunch, Harrison Ford, is onboard with participating in the highly anticipated follow-up to "Return of the Jedi," according to Entertainment Weekly. … Read more

If you love being on the edge of your seat in a movie, get down to the Dominican Republic.

A theater in Santo Domingo is the world's first venue with Tremor FX movie seats, which apparently supply your posterior with "a more immersive theater experience," according to makers Red Seat Entertainment and Seating Concepts.

The Tremor FX system was shown off earlier this year at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. It has three vibrating actuators -- two in the back and one in the bottom -- that shake in response to sounds from the movie. … Read more

Steve Jobs has been memorialized on film studio Pixar's campus.

The Pixar Times, a site dedicated to the film studio, reported yesterday that the Pixar main building is now known as "The Steve Jobs Building." Junn Lee, a Pixar employee, yesterday tweeted a picture of the building with its new name atop the entranceway.

Pixar likely wouldn't be the company it is today without Steve Jobs. In the mid-1980s, the company was having trouble staying afloat under the leadership of famed director George Lucas. After his ouster from Apple, Steve Jobs paid Lucas $5 million for … Read more

In a video released today, "Star Wars" creator George Lucas explained that he decided to sell his media empire to The Walt Disney Company for $4.05 billion because he believed it would "protect" Lucasfilm and its cash cow, the "Star Wars" franchise.

Sitting at a table alongside Lucasfilm co-chairman Kathleen Kennedy -- who will be Lucasfilm's president under Disney -- Lucas explained that in recent months, as he had mulled retirement and what he wanted to do with his life, he realized that the "perfect person to take over the company … Read more

It's best not to watch that freaky, edge-of-your-seat slasher flick with a full bladder. But pee happens -- and sometimes it's hard to anticipate nature's call before settling in at the multiplex. Wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to miss a key scene (or screw it up for your aisle-mates) when you darted to the bathroom?

Fear not, cinephiles -- there's an app for that.

It's called RunPee, and fortunately it has nothing to do with marking your trail to find your way home from your morning jog.… Read more

After seeing "Jurassic Park" nine times in the theater, I not only exhausted my mother's patience for the movie, but also perfected one heck of a Velociraptor impersonation.

Much to the delight of my inner child (and perhaps yours), the visual-effects studio responsible for the realistic raptor costume in "Jurassic Park" released a rare video and story that reveals the creation process behind the costume. … Read more