In a box-office landscape where week-over-week drops of 50% are considered pretty good, Inception's staggeringly small 31% dip looks downright amazing. The Chris Nolan dreamscape tallied $43.5M ($143.6M) to easily dispatch the weekend's big newcomer, Salt ($36.5M). The sly Despicable Me continues to chug along ($24.1M | $161.7M), while the just plain bad Sorcerer's Apprentice ($9.6M | $42.6M) and the amazing Toy Story 3 ($9M | $379.5M) rounded out the top 5. more ›

I wasn't terribly interested in Salt until I read the brilliant grump Jeffrey Wells give it a decent rave over at Hollywood Elsewhere. Consider me interested now, though I'm still not completely sold on Angelina Jolie as an action star (see Tomb Raider). I am, however, sold on Mads Mikkelsen as the star of Valhalla Rising. If only Nicolas Winding Refn were doing the new Conan. He's perfect for it! The only thing I know about Ramona and Beezus is that fanboys are jizzing over Selena Gomez. Whoever that is. Apparently, she just turned 18. more ›

Starting today, audiences in Los Angeles can take their first worthwhile break from the summer blockbuster madness with one of the few award-worthy pics released so far this year (other than Ratatouille). First, a disclaimer. Do not let the trailers for Talk to Me, the new biopic starring the always excellent Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor, mislead you. This is not a film about the civil rights movement, or race in America. Those who are expecting to be preached to or to learn some profound lesson about racial injustice had best look somewhere else. more ›

The LA Film Festival returns to Westwood tonight with the world premiere of Kasi Lemmons’ Talk to Me (not Talk To Me) at the Mann Village Theater. The film stars Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor and tells the story of Ralph Green, an ex-drug addict and convicted felon who became one of Washington D.C.’s most prominent disc jockeys and community activisits in the 60s and 70s. A sure to be congested after-party follows the screening. more ›

700 extra hours -- yes, you read that correctly -- from David Lynch's Inland Empire have been culled into a documentary about David Lynch that is titled Lynch and is being pimped to international buyers at Cannes by Lynch himself. -Cinematical more ›

Tonight - Thursday "My Name Is Earl" (NBC, 8:00 p.m.) Back-to-back new episodes. "Survivor: Cook Islands" (CBS, 8:00 p.m.) Castaways' loved ones arrive on the island to pull at heartstrings, somebody cuts a finger with a machete "Total Eclipse" (IFC, 8:40 p.m.) It's dueling poets, with Leonardo DiCaprio as Rimbaud and David Thewlis as Verlaine in this truly awful 19th-century costume drama. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS, 9:00 p.m.) Danny Bonaduce guest-stars, providing us... more ›

This LAist contributor would watch a BMW ad if it promised Clive Owen, so we happily handed over the $ to see Inside Man yesterday without complaint. Plus Denzel Washington? Crime thriller — whatever. We know a chick flick when we see one. more ›