Millions of moronic teenagers pushed The Final Destination to the top of the weekend box-office chart as it snagged a richly undeserved $28.3M (largely due to the inflated price of tickets to the 3D showings). Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds managed to hold onto second place despite forecasts to the contrary ($20M | $73.8M). In a bit of good news, the worthless Halloween II came in below expectations ($17.4M). Surprise hit District 9 continued to perform well ($10.7M | $90.8M) while G.I. Joe rounded out the top 5 ($8M | $132M). more ›

Critics are split on Taking Woodstock, but anything from the amazing Ang Lee is worth seeing. He'll never get the credit of other major directors, but check out his filmography and find me someone else who's taken so many successful chances. Audiences will probably avoid The Baader Meinhof Complex (LAist review here) because it makes them uncomfortable (e.g. subtitles, anti-Americanism). What I said about Ang Lee above -- apply the same words to Jeff Bridges. You say DeNiro, Hoffman, Pacino, I say Bridges! I'm not thrilled with the inclusion of Timberlake in The Open Road, but that's not enough to keep me away. World's Greatest Dad marks Robin Williams' return to challenging, difficult material. It will be too dark for many, but I liked it. more ›

Let the Right One In was a fiendishly good reimainging of the vampire story. Naturallly, it is now being re-made into what will surely be an inferior, American film. I thought Mickey Rourke gave the performance of the year in The Wrestler, but Sean Penn was almost as impressive with his rendering of the late Harvey Milk. Speaking of fine actors, Anne Hathaway stirs my drink. While I liked Synedoche, New York, I was let down by it because of my absurdly high expectations for Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut. Role Models was better than it had any right to be. I'm still amazed that Seann William Scott is the sole survivor of the American Pie crowd. more ›

While 2008 was no 1999 in terms of truly amazing films, it was better than most may think. Last year, I went with a top 10 that was headed by the wondrous and magical . Accordingly, I've put them at the very top of my list. The rest are in alphabetical order. See each one of them and I promise you will have lived a better life once you're done. more ›

Despite not being terribly funny, opened to a relatively disappointing $12.3M ($18.5M). more ›

more ›

On Friday I surmised that to fall to an embarrassing third. more ›

Anyone else as not excited as I am about Speed Racer? I mean, I watched the cartoon when I was kid, but it was no Gaiking or Starblazers. Even as a nine year-old I recognized the premise as a little stupid (chimps and helicopters?), and the visual design of the movie by the Wachowski Brothers seems move seizure-inducing than sumptuous. Every summer there is one blockbuster that just tanks. My vote this year is for . more ›

more ›

• Tribune Company CEO Dennis FitzSimons will be stepping down at the end of the year, letting Chicago businessman Sam Zell take over the company. The Tribune Company owns the Los Angeles Times.
• President Bush signed a huge Energy Bill yesterday, in hopes of "reducing our dependence on oil, confronting global climate change, expanding the production of renewable fuels and giving future generations of our country a nation that is stronger, cleaner and more secure."
• Looks like Sean Preston and, uh, the other little Chee-to whose name escapes us will have a little fucked up cousin very soon! Jamie Lynn Spears, following in her sister's dirty, unshod footsteps, got herself knocked up.
• California's population has grown by 11.5% since 2000 -- but the annual growth rate has slowed overall, possibly due to slower job growth: "Those who left... were fleeing an economy in which just 5,800 jobs per month were created -- down from more than 20,000 per month the previous year."
• Sean Penn's road-trip flick "Into the Wild" garnered four SAG Award nominations, including one Best Lead Actor nod for star Emile Hirsch. SAG has reached an agreement with the writers guild that will allow the ceremony to proceed as planned.
• This week's rainfall brings California's yearly total up to the seasonal norm. More relief may still be on the way.
• Approximately 25,000 residents in Northridge and other parts of the Valley were affected by power outages yesterday. Cal State Northridge shut down classes, but power has been restored to most customers.
• There may be hope yet for television in the New Year! Stephen Colbert & Jon Stewart will return to cable on January 7th without their writing staff. Stewart and Colbert commented: ""We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence."

Grab a beer friends, we survived the week. I still got hours of junk Tivo'd that I'm supposed to watch but on the calendar it says it's Friday and that's a great thing. Late night TV is super busy tonight, check it out: a free Paris Hilton, Michael Douglas, Seth Myers, Jenny McCarthy. Also, LeBron James is on SNL tomorrow - have a great weekend. more ›

First of all, if you haven't seen the wonderful make plans to do so right away. It is one of the rare films that exploits the full power of cinema to transport you into another world and into the consciousness of another person (my enthusiastic review of it is here, tickets here, preview here, music here). After seeing it, I imagine you'll be ready to go on a little adventure of your own and Lonely Planet is giving you the opportunity. more ›

To no one’s surprise, the awful ($14M). While discerning patriots were sad to see Paul W.S. Anderson’s “vision” further validated, they were somewhat cheered by the continued deterioration of "comedian" Dane Cook’s film career. Also, failed starlet Jessica Alba is one flop closer to what now seems an inevitable, tasteful appearance in Playboy. more ›

It’s rare that a movie can change a hardened opinion and yet that’s exactly what Sean Penn has done with his sublime adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s . When I originally read the book in 1997, my view of Christopher McCandless was essentially in-line with those—largely Alaskans--who considered him an ill-prepared, arrogant fool who died needlessly. The romance of his life and death was entirely lost on me. more ›

The fall tradition of releasing prestige films continues tomorrow as Resident Evil: Extinction opens wide. Milla Jovovich stars as the beneficent Alice, a latter-day Tess of the d'Urbervilles who is charged with the stygian task of killing armies of the undead--and the joke is now over. Anyone dumb enough to see the latest chapter of this awful series probably didn't notice anyway. At least there's nudity. But not from Ali Larter. Dang! Into the... more ›

One of our very favorite Los Angeles historical moments is when Jay Adams and his Dogtown cohort bombed the Bicknell hill in south Santa Monica, inventing modern skateboarding and changing the face of SoCal sports, culture, and fashion. (How many pairs of slip-on Vans do you own?) Salute their totally radical contribution today, and celebrate national Go Skateboarding Day. Get that old Bones Brigade board out of your closet. Roll on down to any... more ›

Stomp the Yard - I'm a sucker for movies that end in dance-offs. DJ, a troubled street-dancer from Los Angeles, avoids jail by enrolling in a black college in Atlanta where two rival fraternities both want a piece of his talent, so they can win a national step show competition. Meagan Good (Brick, D.E.B.S.) plays his love interest. more ›