'White Teeth' has far too many characters, and its plot is tortured. But Smith has an astonishing intellect. She writes sharp dialogue for every age and race - and she's funny as hell.

Jeff Giles

Categorized in : Funny White Age Hell

Sharon Stone has made a fortune from her movies, so who says you can't get something for nothing?

stone movies nothing you

When salaries skyrocket, budgets skyrocket, and then rigor mortis sets in: moviemakers turn out formulaic junk in an effort to hedge their bets.

then turn out effort

Some actors occasionally waive their outlandish salaries and take a cut of the gross instead.

salaries cut some take

Owen Wilson is an actor, but think of him as a sort of secret agent. He has an offbeat, indie-movie sensibility. Every so often, however, he infiltrates some big-budget movie he clearly doesn't belong in - 'Anaconda,' 'Armageddon,' 'The Haunting' - and struggles valiantly to stop it from sucking.

stop some think secret

It is amazing how quickly a true talent can announce itself. In the case of Myla Goldberg, it is not even a matter of pages, but of sentences.

true amazing talent matter