My God! Look over there on the sound stage! | Photo courtesy of Disney [Interested in writing about films and the film business for LAist? Email us here.] Having seen Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on Sunday (review coming tomorrow), a film like National Treasure: Book of Secrets looks awfully pedestrian. Its two greatest assets--Helen Mirren and Diane Kruger--are woefully underused and the big treasure reveal at the end is......

Well known for their masterful tango bowing and plucking skills, Quartet San Francisco will be making their Los Angeles entrada this Friday at Théâtre Raymond Kabbaz, a non-profit theatre run by Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles, a bilingual school that has seen actresses such as Jodie Foster, Claire Danes, Shannon Doherty and others pass through. The school's Theatre, which has a regular season that begins this Friday, is dedicated to French and international......

One of the great shames of this summer's movie season is that, despite glowing reviews, Stardust failed to find an audience when it opened this past weekend. With the exhibition marketplace being what it is right now, this sprawling, wonderful fairy tale will almost certainly disappear quickly from theaters. Movies just aren't allowed to linger anymore waiting to be discovered. Studios figure they're only throwing good advertising money after bad. I hope Stardust will......

Shopgirl is undoubtedly a uniquely Los Angeles kind of movie. From the romanticized sky-high shots of freeway traffic and hyperbolic starry skies over Los Feliz, almost every frame radiates LA the cinematic, LA of the lovelorn, LA the coolly distant, and LA the eternal optimist. Steve Martin, who adapted his novella into the screenplay, and, not surprisingly plays the surprising romantic lead, has once again penned a paean to this glimmering jewel of a......

One of the best perks of living in LA is access to movies in limited release. After all, they help counteract the proverbial blockbuster fizz. Here are a few movies opening in limited release right now. American Zion - Western starring Sam Hennings and Brenda Strong. In 1833 Missouri, the Steed family witnesses the persecution of a community of Mormons, which eventually spurs a massive migration to the West. [local showtimes] Kiss Kiss, Bang......