Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox While not the record-breaker that Cloverfield and Hannah Montana proved to be, Jumper debuted to a winning $31.7M over the long President's Day weekend. The Spiderwick Chronicles finished second with $24.4M followed by fellow newcomer Step Up 2 the Streets with $21.5M. The rancid Fool's Gold surprised by holding onto fourth with $15M ($43.9M). Clearly, Valentine's couples preferred it to the weekend's other new romantic comedy, Definitely, Maybe......

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox The term B-movie has to many persons the connotation of a movie of substandard quality. Traditionally, it meant a low-budget movie with lesser stars meant primarily to entertain. Now an appropriate definition would probably be a genre film that has little to no serious artistic intent: entertainment, not enlightenment.* Doug Liman's Jumper is a B-movie.** I certainly wasn't enlightened by the time it was over. What would you......

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox There's a certain kooky irresistibility to Doug Liman. By many accounts, he's virtually impossible to work with and yet the movies he turns out are often very good (Swingers, The Bourne Identity), and one is even great (Go). That said, I'm hesitant to sign on for Jumper. I'm what some would call the opposite of a fan of Hayden Christensen and Rachel Bilson looks like she has encephalitis.......

FILM The Egyptian is having a John Ford film fest this week, focusing on some of the 50-plus films made while he was at 20th Century Fox. Screening tonight is 1924’s The Iron Horse, a silent film that chronicles the American push out West. Ford shot the film on location in Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada. The film will be introduced by historian and author Robert Bircard. 7:30 pm // Egyptian Theatre // 6712......

Photo courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox In yet another blow to Western civilization, Meet the Spartans ($18.7M) edged Rambo ($18.1M) to win the weekend box office crown. 27 Dresses proved surprisingly robust in its second frame, adding $13.6M ($45.3M) to its coffers. Last week's winner, Cloverfield, went in the opposite direction, plummeting over 68% and bringing in only $12.7M ($64.2M). The weekend's third wide opener, Untraceable finished fifth with $11.2M, in-line with expectations and......

It's official, four major studios have canceled writer contracts -- the Spring 2008 TV is repeats and/of reality. Since Friday, 65 writer contracts have been canceled. Now, even if the strike ends in the foreseeable future, "the studios will no longer be obligated to pay the writers... The action saves the media companies tens of millions of dollars in payments, and is the first real sign of belt-tightening caused by the strike," according to......

Despite the ominous stormclouds looming overhead, last Friday, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly creator Joss Whedon and an estimated 350-400 people, comprised of former Mutant Enemy Productions staffmembers, actors, and fans (mobilized through Fans4Writers, with some flying in from across the country and as far away as the United Kingdom and Australia), picketed in support of the ongoing WGA Strike in front of 20th Century Fox. Mutant Enemy staffers at the rally......

Surf's Up was actually better than Happy Feet but, as my grandpa used to always tell me, the second Penguin-themed animated movie never does as well as the first. 28 Weeks Later may lack the novelty of 28 Days Later, but it's just as tense and terrifying. The fate of Robert Carlyle is truly awful. Amazingly, even Steve Carrell can be unfunny sometimes. YHWH is truly powerful. John Dahl never gets the rich praise......

If you've missed Ken Burns' latest sprawling effort on PBS, you can catch it today when it drops on DVD. Silver Surfer was better than the original Fantastic Four, but that's not really saying much. Got to love Doug Jones, though. 1408 was a surprise summer hit. I think it'll work even better when you're watching it alone at home with the lights turned off. Entourage was never the same after the Aquaman arc,......

LOST fans track down LA Times issue from Wednesday's season finale Man in ice cream truck arrested for selling pot-cicles in Texas Fire at a two story strip-mall in Chatsworth causes a quarter million in damage Murder suspect of 9/11 hero kills himself in San Bernadino Charges will not be filed against actor Ryan O'Neal for the Feb. 3rd brawl Carol Burnett's lawsuit against 20th Century Fox over Family Guy parody of Charwoman is......

By now much hay has been made over "Borat", both as a box office smash and as a mockumentary in which the innocent bystanders who participated in it were duped and cheated. When Borat opened over a week ago Fox booked it in about 800 theaters nationwide, that's less than one-fourth the number of theaters that "Santa Clause 3" opened in and still Sacha Baron Cohen crushed Tim Allen (Yes! There is a God!).......

Idiocracy is currently the best movie in America that no one's ever heard of. That doesn’t mean Idiocracy is great, but it certainly deserves better than the shabby treatment it's received from 20th Century Fox, which seems to have unceremoniously dumped the movie into unsuspecting theaters with a promotional budget approximating that of a typical Saturday night beer run. When it comes to screwing over Mike Judge, Fox has a tradition to uphold. Two......

Meet Chevon Hicks, graphic designer, animator, DJ and the mastermind behind the notoriously naughty online game promoting New Line's latest film, Running Scared. Chevon is the owner and creative director of Heavenspot Graphic Design, which also created the animated Land of Burgers sequence in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, as well as the game featured on the film's website. Chevon and his team are currently working on a website and 3D game for......

LA native Josh Kun demolishes the myth of the tweed jacket wearing, Euro-centric cannon defending, Ivory Tower clinging English professor. As an intellectual jack-of-all-trades, Kun’s interest in mainstream and far-flung aspects of pop culture ensures he’ll never succumb to the latter component of the "publish or perish" maxim. In addition to his position as Associate Professor of English at UC Riverside, Kun contributes to numerous periodicals and is the author of numerous essays, such......

With the redesign and reconstruction of Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood still a fresh memory, West LA residents, commuters, businesses, and a handful of pedestrians are bravely tolerating another major improvement project now taking place along a westerly swath of the Boulevard. A $68.5 million dollar Santa Monica Boulevard Transit Parkway Project attempts to transform the idiosyncratic (some might say disjointed) 2.5-mile long streetscape that follows the spine of the Century City corridor......