Lest you think that getting the summers off is the only perk about being a teacher, AMC Theatres is hosting a very cool promotion around the Hilary Swank movie, Freedom Writers. Starting this weekend and going through Feb. 1, teachers can see the movie for free at any theater in the AMC system. The promotion applies to educators who teach Kindergarten through 12th grade; all you need is a Read more

How cute are these two? Patrick obviously doesn't let Grey's get in the way of spending time with his daughter Tallulah Fyfe. He spent his birthday taking a ride with her. That's just one of the benefits of working as part of an ensemble cast (which, in case you missed it, scored best drama at the Golden Globes). Patrick's latest film Freedom Writer is about a teacher who helps kids in a Read more

TV Squad fills us in on the "Brady Bunch" complete series DVD — and its suspicious packaging. Freedom Writers may be a good movie, but Defamer says the promotional bags belong in the annals of the bad swag. Stereogum shows us the trailer for Drew Barrymore's new flick, Music and Lyrics. Popwatch examines the possible heirs to "Sex and the City". Slashfilm tells us about Adaptation Read more

Hilary kicked off the new year by getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It's quite an accomplishment for the girl who slept in a car with her mom when she first came to Hollywood. She says that's partly the reason she was attracted to her new film Freedom Writers. In this true story, she plays a teacher named Erin Gruwell who helps inner city kids realize a potential others had given Read more

Movie fans are making inevitable comparisons between Hilary Swank's new teacher tearjerker, Freedom Writers, and the Michelle Pfeiffer movie Dangerous Minds. But while the latter had Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise," the Freedom Writers soundtrack has a new single from Common and Will.i.am called "A Dream." Given the subject matter, the song and the music video are a bit on the earnest side, but Read more

Hilary and Patrick celebrated the opening of their new film Freedom Writers last night in Westwood. In the film Hilary plays a teacher who attempts to breakthrough to her hardened students at a gang-infested Long Beach high school. Patrick Dempsey plays her husband. Freedom Writers is getting good reviews so far despite its formulaic premise. And Hilary should have no problem thanking her Read more

I enjoyed Hilary Swank's latest movie, Freedom Writers, about an idealistic young teacher who combats gang violence by having her students read Anne Frank. But I'm definitely a sucker for movies about extraordinary teachers inspiring troubled youth, from 1955's Blackboard Jungle to the Michellle Pfeiffer vehicle Dangerous Minds. But I want to know: What are your favorite tearjerker teacher films? Read more

In my preview of Freedom Writers, I said it was the kind of movie that would either make you weep or roll your eyes. So I should probably confess that I'm one of the weepers; Freedom Writers had me reaching for the tissues more than once. I may be a sucker, but at least I'm a sucker for a pretty good movie. Yes, it's an inspirational teacher story you've seen before, and yes, it's a little too Read more

Depending on your taste in movies, the trailer for Freedom Writers could make you weep or roll your eyes. Hilary Swank stars as real-life heroine Erin Gruwell, a teacher at an underprivedged school who teaches The Diary of Anne Frank and encourages her students to keep their own journals. Check out the trailer and let me know what you think, then tune in on Friday for my review of the movie. Read more