Elijah Wood will star in his first TV series as part of FX's "Wilfred" - an adaptation of an Australian series. From the press release: Wood stars as "Ryan" an introvert who struggles to find social and professional happiness, until he meets "Wilfred" (played by Jason Gann), who is described as part Australian Shepherd, part Russell Crowe on a bender. The world sees Wilfred as a dog; Ryan sees Wilfred as a man dressed in a dog suit." The series will air on FX sometime in the next 18 months. We have to admire FX just "going for it" by buying 13 episodes of this show without doing tons of market research, screenings, or tweaking of the show. Generally we see this faith in artistry on the premium networks like HBO. more ›

If you have somehow avoided watching Battlestar Galactica up till now (and God damn you if that's the case), you can finally watch it as God (e.g. Ron Moore) intended: the complete series on Blu-Ray. Sure, it's expensive but how could you more wisely spend your money? On health insurance? On fucking food? Please! I love everything that Werner Herzog even walks past, so naturally I loved Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Nicolas Cage is in full freak mode (see trailer here for proof) and Werner's direction is as daffy and counter-intuitive as ever. Is Peter Jackson trying to assume the dick mantle from George Lucas (click the link!)? Today we get The Lords of the Rings trilogy in Blu-ray, but it's only the theatrical editions. I'm sure in a few months we'll get another high-priced version of the extended editions in Blu-Ray. Sigh. Greed. Party Down! more ›

Tonight there will be a special screening of the music documentary The Heart Is A Drum Machine at the American Cinematheque (Egyptian Theatre) at 7:30 PM. The movie was made by the same folks who created the quirky, popular 2006 doc Moog, and features a long list of musicians and actors, including Wayne Coyne, Jason Schwartzman, Elijah Wood, Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT... more ›

Following its stunning financial success earlier this year, Paranormal Activity received its required backlash from the cynical (e.g. it wasn't even that scary!). I'd rather focus my attention on the sheer improbability of it all. Folks, this is a film that was made for around $15,000 that went on to gross $107M at the domestic box office. That is an astonishing achievement, both for the filmmakers and the marketing team at Paramount who saw something special where few else did. I say see it! What's a weirder coincidence -- that we would have two films released with the same title in the same year (9, Nine) or that both would come in with high expectations and turn out to be sort of dull? Jennifer's Body should have just been called Megan's Tits. Hey Glee fans -- we get it. You like the show. Modern Family is still much funnier. Accept it. The Swimmer's Nude Massage? WTF? more ›

Last Monday, New Jersey-based singer-songwriter and Perez Hilton favorite Jenny Owen Youngs (MySpace) -- previously mentioned here -- headlined at the Hotel Cafe (MySpace) in Hollywood. Opening for her was local singer-songwriter Greg Laswell (MySpace) and Minneapolis-based The Abdomen (MySpace). more ›

Tickets go on sale tomorrow, Friday the 13th, for the 2006 installment of AFI Fest, Los Angeles' valiant (read: sometimes comical, sometimes desperate) attempt to mount a world-class film festival, something this city deserves but sorely lacks. This year AFI Fest will screen 147 feature films and 36 shorts including several special screenings and premieres. The festival will host the U.S. premiere of Bobby, the Emilio Estevez-directed drama about the assassination of Robert F.... more ›

Now that novelist Jonathan Lethem has just won a MacArthur Genius Grant for his work, we thought it was finally time to clear up the confusion we’ve experienced around the 4 Novelist Jonathans who have all achieved literary and popular successes in the past few years. more ›

And USC and EA Games know it. Game Girl Advance points us to USC's Summer Seminar series where young girls are being offered scholarships to attend their Interactive Entertainment Summer Camp. Video games aren't the only things girls like. 'SC has programs for the young Y-chromosomed scientist in your house as well. more ›

Maybe Austin is just like LA, after all. Much like how we do when we're home, we missed the premiere of a film but didn't miss the after party. Hooligans, a film about, well, soccer hooligans is probably very good and a lot of fun but we didn't see it. Instead we saw the star of the film, Elijah Wood, do an iPod DJ set at the end of the night at Maggie Mae's after our friend, DJ Mel, had already moved the crowd. Locals and film festival attendees alike kept coming on stage to get autographs and photos with the wee actor. We didn't dance much to his set but we did approve of his use of A Tribe Called Quest, Too $hort and Nina Simone. more ›