Photo courtesy of travelin librarian via flickr One of my favorite films of 2007 arrives to DVD today, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. I know what some of you are thinking--why would I want to watch a documentary about grown men competing at Donkey Kong? To that question I can only say, "Trust me. You won't be sorry." Like all great films, King of Kong is about much more than its......

Remember back in the mid 90s or so, when MTV used to play videos? Think hard. Okay, and then there was this period where, right before they cut to a commercial, there was a clip of a Sinatra wannabe singing the song you just saw a video for? Like a snazzy rendition of "Kharma Police" or something of the sort. (Okay, that would've been late 90s. Whatever.) Well, that dude is "Rudy Casoni", a character......

A lotta hungover people in Boston today, no doubt - and with that drama, who the eff was watching the GOP debate? I don't really care about that much this week other than the Damages finale tomorrow night, but first things first. Late night's a bust with almost 100% repeats tonight. Did you catch last night's Curb Your Enthusiasm? Hilarious that Larry David's fictional wife is also leaving him - brilliant too. 8:00pm Chuck NBC......

There was a time when I thought Ben Stiller was one of the more inventive comic minds in the business (consider these hilarious shorts as proof--1,2,3,4,5,6). He can still be funny (witness his brilliant turn on Curb Your Enthusiasm), but it seems like he mostly wants to play it safe now. Let's hope that The Heartbreak Kid is a return to old form, both for Stiller and the inconsistent Farrelly Brothers (who direct). Swedish......

Though its title suggests exceedingly humble aspirations, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With really is an unexpected little gem. Curb Your Enthusiasm's Jeff Garlin writes, directs, produces and stars (whew!) as the Marty-esque James, an overweight, under-employed, 39 year-old actor who still lives with his mother. His biggest concerns in life appear to be extolling the virtues of rice pudding to a convenience store clerk, keeping a great parking space near Wrigley Field......

HBO is kicking off the season with a slew of offerings, so for those of you moneybags who pay for premium TV, enjoy: 9:00pm Tell Me You Love Me HBO - This new sex drama, purportedly featuring actual X-rated penetration, is rapidly approaching overhyped status. Despite the hot and heavy action, supposedly it's very depressing but because of the sex I'm sure it will last at least a season. Now if only those poor Geico......

Now that the frenzied first weekend is over, it should be much easier going at the L.A. Film Festival in terms of actually getting to see a movie. Virtually every film playing today shows either standby availability or tickets available at the door. Free events, unfortunately, are in short supply. Of course, there's the daily Bands on Broxton at noon and 7 p.m. at the Festival Promenade, but the only other free event is......

More SAG Awards liveblogging. Watch out, Dakota is coming. 8:40 Outstanding actor in a comedic series: Sean Hayes takes it to Will and Grace, leaving William Shatner, James Spader and Larry David behind. 8:44 Ensemble comedy series: Arrested Development, Boston Legal, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Desperate Housewives, Everybody Loves Raymond, My Name is Earl. Which show has the most pretty ladies? Yep, they win. Four lavender dresses &mdashl but nobody told Nicolette. She's in green.(side note:she......

A mid-season series on Oxygen didn't sound promising to us until we read the NY Times review that compared it — favorably! — to AbFab. Two 40-ish women leave their suburban lives and enroll as college freshmen. Cringeworthy at first, it gets increasingly debauched and insane, then mellows out to loopy — and cringeworthy again. The show's stars/creators, Christen Sussin (left) and Carrie Aisley, are veterans of LA's classic comedy hothouse the Groundlings. So......

With all the talk of the downfall of the Los Angeles Times in recent weeks and even some previous discussion about what truly is the paper of record for most locals, we laughed out loud when one of the key plot points of this week's Curb Your Enthusiasm centered around the theft of Larry David's morning edition of the Times...the New York Times. Poor LA Times...you can't even be the most important news source......

Last night we watched the season premier of one of television's best shows - Curb Your Enthusiasm. We wondered going in if Larry David still had the magic touch which made the first four seasons both cutting edge and hilarious. Well, we're still enthusiastic about this show, as the episode did not disappoint. David remains sympathetically selfish, and the situations his character finds himself in are absolutely hysterical, yet strangely realistic. We loved watching......

With HBO's summer fare off the air, we've had a hole in our Sunday TV viewing. That all changes this Sunday when Larry David, Cheryl Hines and the rest of the wacky LA characters in their lives return for the 5th season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. To celebrate Larry's neurotic revival, we're giving away 3 copies of the complete season 4 DVD collection. All you've got to do is answer a question about one......

Have you ever been in the mood for a cashew? A plain old cashew, nothing fancy, or over the top. Chances are, you have been. As any mixed nut assortment can attest, the cashew is the most sought after nut, edging out all others in the battle for top nut. Not even the pecan nor the Brazil nut can compete. How many times have you ever picked through a huge can of mixed nuts,......

PreserveLA.com reports that the Fullerton Historic Theatre Foundation received a $700,000 cashiers check from an anonymous donor, putting them over the top for the purchase price of the Fox Fullerton Theatre. The same donor also has pledged another $300,000 gift for next year. Wonder if the anonymous donor will pick up that guest appearance on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" that the Foundation is auctioning off on Thursday, November 18th. The generous but shy donor can......

Andrew Sullivan has posted an e-mail deriding the liberal bias of HBO shows. The past two episodes of "Six Feet Under" on HBO (July 18 and 25) included several anti-Bush lines spoken by the performers, plus a prominent product placement for an anti-Republican book. None of these occurences advanced a story line or character; they were gratuitous throwaways. Here, as best as I can recollect, is what I saw: In the July 18 episode, Nat......

Sunday marked another excellent episode of HBO's Six Feet Under. While LAist has always had a supreme affection for the The Sopranos, SFU keeps getting better and better. The show succeeds in part because it illustrates Los Angeles in all its kaleidoscopic glory - ranging from Nate's short fling with a Westside divorcee ("I have to meet someone at the Grove!") to Federico's ill-advised philandering with an exotic dancer. Larry David's misadventures on Curb Your......