Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures As expected, Cloverfield demolished the box office this weekend, setting a record for a January opener with $41M in receipts. The final total was $15M+ more than was expected as early as a week ago, establishing Cloverfield as a potential monster of a hit once word-of-mouth starts to flow. Not to be outdone, 27 Dresses surprised to the high side in its debut, raking in a solid $22.4M and......

You can't escape the holidays this weekend. No matter how hard you try. So wanna play? Go with the flow? Check these events out: SING-ALONG: The Music Center’s annual Holiday Sing-Along happens tonight. Don't know the words? Songsheets will be provided. The singing takes place outside, so bundle up – or spike your personal egg nog stash. 6:30 pm // Music Center Plaza // 135 N. Grand Ave. // Free. FILM: To get Westsiders......

Last night Austrailian comedian Tim Minchin brought his act to Los Angeles and the ACME Theatre after performances in New York and Las Vegas. On the heels of being named Best Alternative Comedian at the 2007 HBO US Comedy Arts Festival, Minchin's act did not disappoint with a seamless blend of original songs, wry observations, and increasingly amusing audience interaction. Initially adopting a shy stage persona reminiscent of Mitch Hedberg, Minchin covered topics ranging......

Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks of John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band every time I hear The Arcade Fire's "Keep the Car Running," off Neon Bible. I'm used to getting death threats for even suggesting that The Arcade Fire may be the most overrated band of the year but hey, it's not like I'm calling for Eddie and the Cruisers III. They ripped off a band that ripped off......

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......

Dear LAist, Roger Waters is playing the Hollywood Bowl tonight and you haven't said WORD ONE about it! What more does a man have to do than write the best parts of THE WALL, and Dark Side of the Moon? Poseurs, Adam in Tarzana Bro, we were just waiting to see if anyone noticed. Congratulations, send us your cell phone number and we will buy you a beer at the show. We've had our......

LAist is proud to offer a weekly chart roundup of Billboard Magazine's most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week's chart toppers. Behold the #1s. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Billboard Charts Issue......

Written and photographed for LAist by Cecil Castellucci, author of The Plain Janes and Beige. More pics available here. Yesterday, I went to go check out the action at the LA Convention Center, which is playing host to Star Wars Celebration IV. It was the preview Fan Day for the Official Star Wars Fan Club members. I'm member number one bagazillion. I'm not going to lie. I have a love hate relationship with Star Wars.......

The Gospel of Leonard Cohen Dave Alvin, Jackson Browne, Bill Frisell, Michael McDonald, Perla Batalla, Howard Tate, Kevin McCormick, Don Heffington. Dave Palmer, Robben Ford, Don Was and others give thanks to great songwriter @ Royce Hall Dark Side of the Moon Laser Show @ Van Nuys Cyber Studio of Laser Images, Inc. (email laserium@earthlink.net or call (818) 997-6611 for reservations James Taylor @ Wilshire Theatre Too $hort @ Viper Room Nudist Priest, Donita......

Normally we would post a Tonight in Rock in LA list at this time, but in honor of the National Day of Mourning, most of the clubs have shut down for the night and those of us who like, let's say, the Dark Side of Things are celebrating with a Black Parade. This Saturday My Chemical Romance returns to LA, this time not in the cozy sunset strip club of the House of Blues,......

We still don't think that the color commentator, Lamar Thomas, deserved to get fired for describing the crazed feeling of his former teammates in the brawl in "The OB" - immortalized on YT. Sports Illustrated thinks differently. - SI They invented the easiest way to upload and share copywritten materials, then they handed over the name and info of one of its users to the Feds justlikethat. Then the studio sued the YouTuber. Has......

Yes he played your favorite Pink Floyd tunes, yes he played all of Dark Side of the Moon and yes he's playing again tonight at the Hollywood Bowl. Because the visuals are so good, you really can't lose by getting any old ticket that someone wants to offer you on Highland and going. Even the cheap benches. Even on the side. Even up in the hills. Why not? All Waters does is bob his......

He wrote The Wall, he wrote Animals, and he wrote pretty much all of Dark Side of the Moon; still, somehow, when Roger Waters split ways with guitarist David Gilmour and the rest of the band, it was the guitarist who got to keep the name Pink Floyd. And to add insult to injury, when the new Pink Floyd put out new records, it was they who outsold their songwriter. Tonight Waters returns to......

The hottest thing on YouTube and Google Video is the mashup of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" and the film classic "The Wizard of Oz". Back in our day you had to perfectly time the victrola with the betamax. But now someone has dropped the bothersome audio from the film and layed in that sweet Floyd masterpiece. So for tonight's midnight movie, enjoy this 7 minute version. Full 43-minute version on Google.......

As if the ghetto birds weren't enough, now the LA Sheriff is checking out unmanned drones for survelliance. Farewell privacy! The long-awaited Biggie Smalls retrial pushed back to 2007, American Airlines red-eye flight from LA to Chicago lands at O'Hare this morning without its nosegear lowering and locking. Pilots are amazing. The editors of the LA Times are bashing their parent company's CEO today. Hugh Hewitt says "This is a classic hit piece, standard......

Day 3 Recap: - It was revealed last night that the undisclosed location Dick Cheney has been known to frequent was actually the dark side of the moon, so removed from reality was his assessment of the successes thus far of the Bush administration. After polishing the President's non-existent laurels, he launched into a mean spirited attack on John Kerry that was dishonest, dishonorable, and, alas, highly effective. - Zell Miller completed his conversion......