No film could ever capture the inner despair and hopelessness that pervades Cormac McCarthy's magnificent novel, The Road. Still, the film is a despondently faithful adaptation that should please -- if depress -- cineastes. Never before has society's apocalypse felt so hauntingly real. There's only one, maybe two good reasons to watch HBO's moronic True Blood, right? Of all the classic authors I read in college, I return to D.H. Lawrence more than any other. Why hasn't there been a fantastic film adaptation of Sons and Lovers? more ›

Phony romance New Moon reigned over the box-office for a second consecutive weekend ($42.5M | $230.6M), though feel-gooder The Blind Side almost nipped it in the end ($40.1M | $100.2). Disaster-fu disaster 2012 held onto third place ($18M | $138.7M), just nosing out awful newcomer Old Dogs ($16.8M) and the sturdy A Christmas Carol ($16M | $105.3M). Ninja Assassin debuted to a solid $13.1M ($21M), topping mediocre kiddy flick Planet 51 ($10.2M | $28.4M) and the superb Precious ($7M | $32.4M). more ›

Though its elliptical ending caused a bit of a backlash, I can't imagine any serious film fan not enjoying the hell out of finally ties up all the loose ends of the original that have been bedeviling viewers for nigh on two decades. more ›

It was a great year of new books, re-discovered books, and books we meant to get to last year but didn't. The end of the year is nearly here and before we look forward, we'll take a look back. Last week, LAist Editors shared their favorite books of 2007. This week, a few LAist Contributors share their favorite book they read this year: more ›

No Country for Old Men is so profoundly good, so rich in depth and meticulous in craft that if someone were to ask me what I thought of it, I would only be able to stammer, "Just...go see it. Quickly!" Adapted from the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name (its title lifted from Yeats' Sailing to Byzantium), No Country for Old Men tells the deceptively simple story of a man who finds a... more ›

With one very notable exception, it's a fairly dull weekend in the movie world. That exception, of course, is the sterling No Country for Old Men. After several misfires (Intolerable Cruelty, The Ladykillers, The Man Who Wasn't There), the Coen Brothers are back with their best film since The Big Lebowski. Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones all give superb performances in this adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel of the same name.... more ›

Look. We know how it’s going to go down. By this time tomorrow, Oscar nominees will be announced and madness will ensue. There will be the campaigning amongst friends. The mad dash to see the films you haven’t seen. The endless questioning about who should win, who shouldn’t win and who should never be allowed to direct again. In certain circles, the mad “What will they wear? Who will they wear?”debating will also begin. You know how it goes, you do it every year. We do it too. more ›