Next Sunday, public radio station KCRW (Santa Monica College, 89.9) and Bookworm host Michael Silverblatt will present an evening of intimate conversation with Sapphire, the best-selling author ofPush (the book that inspired the film Precious), and her latest novel, The Kid. more ›

After a summer of mostly lackluster debuts, Toy Story 3 demolished the competition this weekend, setting a Pixar opening record of $109M. Surprise powerhouse The Kung Fu Kid finished a distant second ($29M | $106.2M), well ahead of the mediocre and disappointing The A-Team ($13.7M | $49.7M). The unexpectedly funny Get Him to the Greek showed good legs in its third weekend ($6.1M | $47.8M) while Shrek Forever After continues to print money against all sound judgement ($5.5M | $222.9M). more ›

It isn't like we needed a Toy Story 3, but there's no doubt it will be awesome. Pixar's perfect string of massive commercial and critical hits continues with seemingly no end in sight. Barring the last minute addition of a full-frontal nude scene from Megan Fox, expect Jonah Hex to sink quickly to the bottom of the box-office charts. Who exactly is interested in seeing this movie? It still astonishes me how deeply the influence of religious weirdos runs in our society. In 8: The Mormon Proposition we see how a small group of devout lunatics prevents gay Californians from equally participating in society. People who supported Prop 8 hate America. more ›

Hundreds of thousands of moronic, cud-chewing Americans paid good money to see the new A Nightmare on Elm Street this weekend, allowing the unnecessary remake to easily claim the box office crown ($32.2M). Recent powerhouse How to Train Your Dragon slipped to a distant second ($10.8M | $192.3M), but still easily managed to hold off both the funny-ish Date Night ($7.6M | $73.6M) and the horrifying The Back-up Plan ($7.2M | $22.9M). As expected, newcomer Furry Vengeance suffered through an awful debut ($6.5M). more ›

Is there a more captivating actress right now than Rebecca Hall? She alone would get me into the theater to see Please Give. The fact that Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt join her and Nicole Holofcener directs makes it the easiest decision of the weekend. Did we really need another A Nightmare on Elm Street? Seems to me that Jackie Earle Hailey is just being asked to re-do his awesome Rorschach voice from Watchmen. Will there at least be tons of naked boobs? Roger Kumble continues his descent down the directorial ladder with Furry Vengeance. It's a shame because Cruel Intentions was some seriously nasty fun. more ›

A common complaint I heard from parents last year who took their kids to see Where the Wild Things Are was, "It was too dark for a kids' movie." To these parents I say, "You are fucking morons." The only kids for whom this movie is too dark are stupid and ordinary kids, and who cares what they think anyway. For me, Where the Wild Things Are was the latest oddball entry in Spike Jonze's increasingly awesome canon. Don't rent it; buy it. The same goes for the latest from grand master Hayao Miyazaki, Ponyo. In fact, while you're at it pick up Totoro and Kiki's, too. 2012 is disposable garbage, but if you're in the mood for that you could do worse. Cold Souls might have been considered a brilliant movie if it had come out before Being John Malkovich. Instead, it's just derivative (but still pretty good). Who will stand up and end the MILF onslaught? more ›

For a certain generation (I'll call them the "Mike Tyson Punch Out!" generation), there has always been a strange fascination with the now-humbled pugilist. It's those people -- myself included -- who will be lining up to see James Toback's very well-reviewed documentary, Tyson. Those in need of a gooey validation of the human spirit, on the other hand, will be seeing The Soloist. Downey is obviously a huge draw these days (see Kiss Kiss Bang Bang if you haven't already), but I agree with Ken Turan that Joe Wright should have dialed back the sentimentality. Fighting looks terrible. Probably only suitable for those obsessed with Channing Tatum's abs. more ›

How can you resist a movie written and directed by Charlie Kaufman? | Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics more ›

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Let's face it, 2007 was a mediocre year for movies. Although there are still a couple months left for 2007 to prove it's cinema value, overall it was a disappointing year. Sure Hollywood gave us "300", "Zodiac", and "Once", but we also got "The Number 23", "Norbit", and "Code Name: The Cleaner". So I have my eyes set on 2008, which seems to have a wonderful slate of features for us to see at... more ›

The fall tradition of releasing prestige films continues tomorrow as Resident Evil: Extinction opens wide. Milla Jovovich stars as the beneficent Alice, a latter-day Tess of the d'Urbervilles who is charged with the stygian task of killing armies of the undead--and the joke is now over. Anyone dumb enough to see the latest chapter of this awful series probably didn't notice anyway. At least there's nudity. But not from Ali Larter. Dang! Into the... more ›

More SAG Awards liveblogging. Watch out, Dakota is coming. more ›