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"Safe House" is the new Denzel Washington flick which treads some familiar territory. There are explosions, there are also buddy cop dynamics, sexy girlfriends, and lots and lots of action.  As always we hear from Rafer Guzman, film critic for Newsday, and Kristen Meinzer, culture producer for the Takeaway. They'll tell you if this movie is a good date, and if the action-packed sequences are too much, too often, or just right.

A.O. Scott, chief film critic of The New York Times, and Dana Stevens, Slate's film critic and co-host of Slate's "Culture Gabfest," compare notes on this year's Oscar nominations (just released this morning), and discuss recent changes in the requirements for best documentary.

It’s the week before Christmas, the busiest time in movie land, with over half a dozen movies opening in theaters throughout the week. The first batch of films, which hit theaters last night and today, include: "The Adventures of Tintin," "Albert Nobbs," and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." Rafer Guzman and Kristen Meinzer talk about the the big holiday releases.

Two men are suing Fox Searchlight, saying the company violated minimum wage and overtime laws when they employed the two as interns on the Academy Award-winning film "Black Swan." In these uncertain economic times, many film studios and other employers have been hiring more unpaid interns. For the company that hires interns, the benefit is a free worker, and for the intern the benefit is a learning experience, and possibly a paid job offer in the future. The federal labor department has a set list of rules that unpaid internships must follow: the position should benefit the intern, it should not displace other employees, and it should be educational. Did Fox Searchlight violate these rules?

"Beware the beast Man, for he is the Devil’s pawn." That’s a quote from the 1968 classic science fiction film, "Planet of the Apes." The movie starred Charlton Heston, and imagined a post-nuclear world ruled by powerful apes. The film spawned a media franchise of sequels, and television series. But "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," which debuts this weekend, contemplates how the primates might take power today.

Dana Stevens, Slate film critic and co-host of the Culture Gabfest, previews films being released during the summer season.

Dana Stevens, Slate film critic and co-host of the Culture Gabfest, previews movies being released during the summer season.

What movies are you looking forward to this summer?

Let’s make something clear. I am not a gambler. I hate the stock market. I have no interest in watching celebrity poker. On the two occasions I visited Las Vegas, I played only the penny slots (and limited the value of the pennies to $20 total for 6 hours, not counting the extra $20 my sister pushed on me).

That being said, I cannot resist a little Oscar gambling. And I’m not alone. According to Gambling911.com, the Oscars are “the 3rd biggest single day betting event of the year after the Super Bowl and Kentucky Derby” and “the most wagered on nonsporting event after the U.S. Presidential race.”

A soon-to-be-released film about marital drama just won a rare victory. “Blue Valentine,” starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, was initially given an NC-17 rating by the Motion Picture Association of America. The stated reason? Because the film contains “a scene of explicit sexual content.” Many people familiar with the scene described it as a fairly tame sex scene in which William's character receives oral sex. The studio and film's cast and crew appealed the rating, which was changed yesterday by the MPAA. The film is now rated R.

From 1999 to 2006 he was Attorney General of the state of New York. In 2006, he won his bid for the New York governorship by one of the largest margins in state history. But in the spring of 2008, his name was best known for its involvement with prostitution. A documentary about Eliot Spitzer's meteoric career in politics, called “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer” is out in limited release now.

Today, one of the greatest screen villains of the past quarter century returns in “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.”

This time, Gordon Gekko, again played by Michael Douglas, returns to the investment banking world just in time to see it crash and burn ... and of course, in time to benefit from it crashing and burning.

But while some fans of Gekko and "Wall Street" are thrilled with the prospect of a sequel, we’re more interested in knowing whether the movie is good, the facts accurate, and what we might learn from it.

Samuel Maoz talks about writing and directing the film “Lebanon,” which is based on his own experiences as a 20-year-old Israeli soldier during the 1982 Lebanon war. The film brings us inside an Israeli tank during the first 24 hours of the invasion, restricting the action entirely to the tank’s interior and shows us the outside world, only as the four young soldiers inside see it. “Lebanon” opens August 6 at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and Landmark Sunshine.

During the summer many people long for an old-school, old-fashioned romance. But for the most part, sweeping romances tend to feature people in their twenties or thirties, and those stories generally end with a white dress and walk down the aisle.

But in one movie this summer, the romance takes place between a man and a woman closer to fifty than twenty, and we know from the get-go that the likelihood of a marriage proposal at the end is highly unlikely - because the woman in the film is already married.

Marco Amenta talks about his film “The Sicilian Girl,” based on the true story of Rita Atria, a 17-year-old Sicilian whose father and brother were both Mafia members (and victims). Rita breaks the vow of silence that rules that world. “The Sicilian Girl” is playing at Film Forum August 4–17.

Academy Award winners Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek discuss their new movie, "Get Low," about a cantankerous recluse who stages his own memorial service while he’s still alive, so he can find out what everyone says about him. The two actors talk about the unexpected parallels of their lives and careers, and about working together for the first time on this film. “Get Low” opens Friday, July 30, at Lincoln Plaza cinemas and the Regal Union Square Theater.

Legendary paparazzo Ron Galella and Oscar-winning director Leon Gast discuss the documentary “Smash His Camera,” which chronicles Galella’s career as a notorious guerrilla photographer. They’ll talk about Galella’s dogged pursuit of, and infamous battle with, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, among other celebrities. The film examines the nature of fame, the relationship between celebrities and their chroniclers, and the balance between privacy and freedom of the press. "Smash His Camera" is playing at Cinema Village.

Actress Ashley Judd talks about her career, growing up in a famous family, and about her latest dramatic role in in the new movie “Helen.” The movie is about a university professor who has a sudden, unexpected breakdown that sends her into severe depression. “Helen” opens July 30th at the Quad Cinema.

What makes a film adaptation of a book work, and what makes it fail? The Takeaway talks with Patrik Henry Bass, senior editor of Essence magazine about why he believes some adaptations work better than others. We also chat with Ben Sherwood, author of "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud," about watching his novel make the transition from page to screen.

What do you think? Which books made better movies?