I enjoyed but hardly loved The Runaways. Dakota Fanning continues to be badly mis-cast (mostly because she's no longer nearly so compelling an actor) and Kristen Stewart hasn't grown much as a performer since In the Land of Women. Still, Michael Shannon was his usual electrifying self and the story of The Runaways is a great one (though I would have loved to have seen more of Lita Ford!). The Losers surely suffered from the perception of being an A-Team-lite. Let's see if The Expendables suffers a similar fate in a few weeks. Cop Out was plain awful. If only Kevin Smith could be satisfied with the prospect of being nothing more than a brilliant public speaker (as opposed to a mediocre filmmaker). more ›

Alice in Wonderland continued its domination of the box office for a third straight weekend as it brought in a solid $34.5M ($265.8M) to easily dispatch the surprisingly strong Diary of a Wimpy Kid ($21.8M) and the underperforming Bounty Hunter ($21M). Repo Men was even more of a disappointment as it only managed to gross a pathetic $6.5M. She's Out of My League held strong in its second weekend ($6M | $19.9M) while The Green Zone cratered ($5.9M | $24.7M). more ›

Kristen Stewart fidgets with the hem of her cropped black pants, her knees against her chest as she answers questions, her heels up on her chair. Dakota Fanning sits next to her. She’s composed and alert in a lavender tank top, taking in everything around her, eyes lingering over the scribbled notes of the reporter sitting next to her. The girls are promoting their latest film, The Runaways, which tells the story of the first all-girl rock band of the same name. At the center of the film is the friendship between Joan Jett (Kristen) and her cherry bomb lead singer, Cherie Currie (Dakota). LAist wanted to know about the actresses’ friendship off-camera and if an onscreen make-out scene made anything feel weird between them. more ›

For a certain sub-section of filmgoers (e.g. people who fucking rule), the arrival of a new Noah Baumbach movie is cause for celebration. By most accounts, Greenberg is as strong as The Squid and the Whale. This, folks, is a very, very good thing. I couldn't get through the book, but The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has me intrigued. Don't be scared off by the subtitles, people! I'm sort of tired of Kristen Stewart so The Runaways is low on my list. Plus, Dakota Fanning is just terrible, right? Pass. I typically hate movies with and about kids, but Diary of a Wimpy Kid has Chloe Moretz (who should kick-ass in Kick-Ass). Consider it a maybe. more ›

It's easy to write off Warning!!! Pedophile Released sight unseen as cheap exploitation. Besides all those exclamation marks in the title, there's the convenient release on the heels of Roman Polansky's high-profile arrest for child-rape, an appearance by porn star Joanna Angel & a lead actor coming off of Silent Night, Zombie Night and (ahem) Vaginal Holocaust. Never mind the accompanying Dakota Fanning vehicle Father Xmas (at one point rumored to be Fanning's own child-rape film Hounddog). But the film's trailer tells a different story, of disturbed teens, real tragedy & raw emotion that's more Larry Clark than Larry Cohen. Make up your own mind, and then fawn or fight with the cast and crew at the evening showings. more ›

Rarely do major film studios finance films as ambitious as Watchmen and with the middling success the film enjoyed, it's likely to become rarer still. Which is a damn, damn shame. Zach Snyder's adaptation of Alan Moore's seminal graphic novel has its share of issues, but he did manage to get Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach and Nite Owl (II) just about perfect which is a huge triumph. Watchmen is a film that deserved greater financial support from the public. Let's hope it finds that support on DVD. I mean seriously, do we want more films like Watchmen or more shit like Transformers 2: Revenge of Shit. Vote with your dollars, people! more ›

If you've got under a hundred dollars in your bank account, a date at the movies is usually out of the question. You stare longingly at LAist's film calendar every week: the Arclight's obviously a fortune, but even AMCs & revival houses run $15-$20 for two tickets. Add popcorn & soda? Ugh. This is news to no one, but if you're in the South Bay? WOW! The Warner Grand Theatre is looking out for you! Even if you're not - it's probably still cheaper to drive to San Pedro, plunk down a Hamilton and enjoy 2 tickets, 2 sodas & 2 popcorns (single tickets are a whopping $3 - cheaper than a DVD rental). more ›

How is it that I 100% get the appeal of the Twilight books, but am completely mystified by the massive success of High School Musical 3? As far as I can see, HSM3 has only one thing going for it. Strange that an essentially clunky film like Gran Torino worked so well, while a seemingly fascinating film like Changeling fell flat. Speaking of movies not working, Body of Lies was about as disappointing as they get, huh? How on earth do you so badly waste the brilliant Russell Crowe? Choke was good, dirty fun. It's worth a rental. more ›

An all-star cast was enough to propel newcomer He Only Wants To Sleep with You to the top of the weekend box-office. The generic romantic comedy tallied an impressive $27.4M to easily beat last week's champ Taken ($20.3/$53.3M). The superb Coraline managed to snag $16.3M worth of kiddie dollars as parents weren't scared away by the film's dark themes. After that it was the unnecessary and dreadful The Pink Panther 2 ($12M) followed by the equally boorish Paul Blart: Pathetic Fatso ($11M/$97M). more ›

Do you remember the days when you looked forward to the new Steve Martin movie? Is anyone anywhere looking forward to The Pink Panther 2? Speaking of bad movies, Push is proof that you shouldn't try to do effects-driven films on a tight budget. I'm just not that into He's Just Not That Into You. Fanboys was once a good movie before being raped by its distributor. Coraline looks amazingly good and amazingly creepy. more ›

As expected, Marky Mark's had a surprisingly strong start on Friday before tailing off slightly as the weekend continued. Apparently, Americans just can't get enough of their flawed yet heroic president, George W. Bush. more ›

Samuel L. Jackson continues to prove he's at least a decent box-office draw as his presence lifted the rote thriller was expected to do just okay business which is pretty much what it did ($8M). more ›

Lakeview Terrace looks like such a rote, phony thriller that it's hard to imagine a decent (albeit declining) director like Neil LaBute being able to do much with it. Then again, it's probably Oscar-worthy compared to tripe like My Best Friend's Girl. Is there still an audience for Dane Cook? The Duchess looks like just another wan costume drama after the fiery and robust . Keira Knightly really needs to stop doing these things. Anyone else getting an overpowering TNT vibe from Appaloosa? more ›

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox more ›

We'd like to take credit for this hi-larious story about this Kobe Bryant feature in possible pre-development, but we can't. Check it out here. Photo by lunchbox.... more ›

- From the mouths of babes. 12-year-old Dakota Fanning puts critics of her new film "Hounddog" on Time Out for bitching about a film that would have such a little girl like her get raped. "It's not really happening. It's a movie, and it's called acting." she said. - CNN - Brent Liles, former bass player of Social Distortion died yesterday when a truck hit him while he was riding his bicycle - LA Times... more ›

Park City, UTAH - Don't worry, Dakota Fanning is safe and sound. She hasn't actually been raped. It's the character in her latest film that gets attacked. And thank goodness, because Fanning is the best thing about the otherwise dreadful Hounddog. Although the film's rape scene, which was filmed when Fanning was all of 12, has been getting so much grief (this morning's Sundance screening in Salt Lake City was greeted with protests), it's... more ›

Wednesday - Tonight Lakers @ Mavericks (ESPN, 6:30 p.m.) Jazz @ Clippers (PRIME, 7:30 p.m.) "King of Queens" (CBS, 8:00 p.m.) Double whammy - 2 new episodes. "The Next Top Model: British Invasion" (the CW, 8:00 p.m.) 2 Hour debut(!) "The Biggest Loser" (NBC, 8:00 p.m.) Season finale in mondo 2 hr. episode. "The Lost Room" (SciFi, 9:00 p.m.) Final episode of the miniseries. "One Punk Under God" (Sundance, 9:00 p.m.) If you pay... more ›

More SAG Awards liveblogging. Watch out, Dakota is coming. more ›

- And, finally, Dakota Fanning -- who shares top billing with Robert De Niro and Tom Cruise -- also shares tagalongs and samoas with the Chatsworth Girl Scouts. more ›

Over the holiday weekend, while most people were watching Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning flee from aliens, LAist visited a new day spa in Santa Monica, and had a very earthly experience. more ›

With all the death and destruction currently overrunning society and overwhelming those striving for peace and goodwill, it's nice to know that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is doing their part to bring Los Angeles a rainbow on such a rainy day. more ›