The Cricket's Daily 3: Obama tries his hand at movie criticism

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Here's what's happening over the weekend in pop culture:

• President Barack Obama took a turn as Movie Critic in Chief, telling a radio host that seeing "Lee Daniels' The Butler" made him tear up. "I thought Forest Whitaker was wonderful," Obama said. "And Oprah, my girl, she can act." [The Hollywood Reporter]

• A study makes the case that closing down a movie-piracy website helped blockbusters like "The Avengers" but hurt the box-office fortunes of independent films — because, the researchers argue, the indies get word-of-mouth publicity that helps boost legal sales. [Entertainment Weekly]

• Celebrity break-up news: Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are informally separated, while their European equivalent, Vincent Casell and Monica Bellucci, have announced they will divorce after 14 years of marriage. [People, The Huffington Post]