Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance has Nic Cage running on crazy in human form, before turning into a flaming skeleton with a whip. Then get your mind out of the gutter with Studio Ghibli's latest. more ›

Amy Poehler won Variety's Power of Comedy Award on Saturday, staking the claim as the first woman to do so. Her acceptance speech jabbed at Will Ferrell then weaved in and out of her crass humor and genuine advocacy for cancer awareness. The ears of feminists perked up as she promised, "I will take this honor seriously, and I'm gonna use my newly acquired power to create television shows that highlight issues important to women." more ›

There's been musings about whether or not Stephen Colbert really offered James Franco (another) job on last night's "Colbert Report" - we don't think so. --- Amy Poehler has been invited to speak to Harvard's graduating class in May, congrats to the Boston College grad! --- All this and tonight's TV Junkie Must-Watch Plan & the listings. more ›

The TV Junkie Must-Watch Plan: "The Big Bang Theory," "Fierce Funny Women," "Man vs. Wild" (Borneo), "Archer," "Conan" (Actor Seth Rogen; media personality Wendy Williams; Lykke Li performs), "Lopez Tonight" (Actor Paul Reubens; Actress Emanuelle Chriqui), "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson" (Comic Wanda Sykes; actor Kevin McKidd) more ›

Festival fanatics find an old standard turning about their head this week: "Hooray for Hollywood!" The Hollywood Film Festival features dramas, docs, mocks, horrors & even music videos. Highlights include The Upright Citizens Brigade (Wild Girls Gone), one of David Carradine's final roles (The Rain), North Korean defectors (Crossing), hipster murders (The Scenesters), Ugandan children (War Dance Returns), 30-year old "boy" scouts (Scout's Honor) & the worst Christian pop group in the world (Jesus People) - all in the Arclight's reserved-seat, caramel-popcorn splendor. But if, like yours truly, you've emerged from the Red Line to find yourself too lazy to walk down to Sunset, pop into the Egyptian for the Arpa International Film Festival. Arpa kicks off with Venezuelan spy-romance Venezzia (the most expensive Venezuelan film ever made) and continues with Armenian historical dramas and a ton of bizarre shorts. If sexy dolls, entomologists, Muslim stand-up, or Spanish gynecologists appeal to you, definitely stop by. more ›

Weekend EditionLast night the TV Junkie was very fortunate to be invited to the taping of "The Soup" which will air on E! tonight at 10pm. It was a fantastic experience made all the more special by a great special guest and some hilarious shenanigans. Charming and kind host Joel McHale and executive producers KP Anderson and Edward Boyd (very fun men in their own right) gave us a few minutes for a video piece that will be posted later tonight. "The Soup" has always been a weekly gem and to see it being put together before one's eyes was an amazing experience. We're so fortunate to have this team at E! process and present a week's worth of TV and pop culture for us with just the right perspective of smart and biting humor. Watch it tonight, it's even better than usual. more ›

I was planning to hit the Festival Press Office right when they opened at eight to jump into one of their four viewing booths and catch a quick movie on DVD, but fate (or more likely, last night's unusually intense hangover--I blame the altitude) intervened and I didn't get there until just after ten. Luckily, a booth was still open and I was able to snatch a copy of John Krasinki's Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. I settled into my chair, plugged in my cell phone to charge and slipped on my headphones. more ›

This was fun. more ›

In a bit of a surprise, the surrogate pregnancy comedy target audience forgot that the movie was opening and spent their weekend eating a family-size bag of Doritos. more ›

I think it will be hard for Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay to replicate the success of the original seems bigger, more absurd and ultimately less funny. Still, I'll be there. Probably a little buzzed, too. more ›

Upright Citizen’s Brigade has the hipster comedy scene cornered in a way that could make Wes Anderson weep. The lines to get into their shows look like Urban Outfitters threw up on them, past performers have included the likes of Sarah Silverman and Janeane Garofalo, and one of the founders is uber-hip comedienne Amy Poehler. Their dominance of alt-funny Los Angeles is pretty much undisputed. more ›

Man, didn't you just love "Freaks and Geeks"? Weren't you pissed when it got cancelled, almost as pissed as you were when they cancelled "Arrested Development"? Or, if you discovered it post-axe, weren't you pissed there was only one season to savor on DVD? But then The Forty-Year-Old Virgin came out and was really funny and did really well at the box office, and you were still pissed about "Freaks and Geeks", but at... more ›

A Word or, I dunno, like 80: It seems to be coming together a bit on Lost - another good episode last night. If you want the producers' perspective, they're on tonight after Grey's. Delay goes to his base tonight on Colbert. Tonight the networks will have the typical struggle between comedy and young-doctors-in-love, what will you succumb to? Tonight - Thursday - May 17, 2007 Angels @ Mariners (Fox Sports, 7:00 p.m.) Bob... more ›

A Word or 35: TV On the Radio was great on Letterman last night - check 'em on Kimmel tonight. Also, Will Arnett, Mr. Amy Poehler, is on that show. If you have premium channels then Sunday is your night. Tonight - Friday - March 30th, 2007 Angels @ Dodgers (KCAL, 7:30 p.m.) Rockets @ Lakers (ESPN, 7:30 p.m.) Clippers @ Kings (PRIME, 7:30 p.m.) Ghost Whisperer/Close To Home/NUMB3RS (CBS, 8-11:00 p.m.) All new.... more ›

Through an amazing fluke of luck I got on the list to see last week’s Saturday Night Live dress rehearsal. After a bit of a mixup with a friend who was supposed to join me I got escorted up to the 8th floor of 50 West 50th Street in Rockerfeller Center – this is the studio floor, not the bleachers. I sat down at 7:40 p.m. with about 20 other people lucky enough to... more ›

Weekend Edition Tonight - Saturday "Sunset Boulevard" (TCM, 5:00 p.m.) The movie about the fickleness of stardom in Hollywood. It's somehow beyond a classic. "American Movie" (IFC, 6:15 p.m.) The movie about self-financed redneck-geek movie maker Mark Borchardt's project "Coven", pronounced "koh-vehn" Ducks @ Sharks (KDOC, 7:30 p.m.) Didn't these guys just play each other a couple days ago? Are there only 3 or 4 teams in the NHL? Stars @ Kings (Fox Sports,... more ›

http://www.artleak.org/civicmatters/">Civic Matters exhibit at LACE and the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art downtown. more ›

We love Jill Soloway. We love Upright Citizen's Brigade. We love when the two come together and make latkes. Well, the two are coming together tonight and are being even extra Jewish. Heaping Portion is, as Jill says, "a few jews having their way with the torah portion. expect words, music, manischevitz, and actual real live magical acts of god. or g-d. or whatever." more ›