In ten years, we'll remember this movie for introducing Olivia Thirlby | Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight Now that all the hubbub has subsided, can we all agree that Juno was really just an okay movie and that there's no way Ellen Page should ever have been nominated for an Oscar? All I know is that whenever Rainn Wilson or Olivia Thirlby were on-screen I paid zero attention to the dour and monotone Page.......

We leaf through various calendars so you don't have to. HOLIDAY FUN: The folks at the Troubadour Theater Company who brought us It's a Stevie Wonderful Christmas and Fleetwood MacBeth are back with A Charlie James Brown Christmas. The show features Charlie Brown singing "It's a Man's Man's World" or maybe James Brown singing "Christmas Time is Here." Or maybe it's both? 8 pm // Falcon Theatre // 4252 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles // $20-$37.50.......

I'm ashamed to admit how long it took me to finally catch Sidney Lumet's latest film, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. After all, Lumet is one of the true grandmasters of the craft (he directed his first significant film, 12 Angry Men, over fifty years ago!). What's more, the cast he brought together for Devil is absolutely top-notch: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris. Worst of all,......

This weekend is one of those weekends where--if you love movies--you'll be hard-pressed to choose which one (or two) to see. Most will probably settle on American Gangster, and I don't see anything wrong with that. Couple two powerhouse actors (Denzel & Crowe) with a reliable director (Ridley), add a compelling story that has slipped through the cracks for years and you have what looks to be a great, studio picture. If, like the......

Watching Nip/Tuck has always been a dirty and guilty pleasure. Season five of the show returns tonight on FX and McNamara/Troy are moving the business to our own Los Angeles (as if you haven't been pummeled incessantly by the promos for the last month, and particularly during the World Series). The overpromotion irritates me a bit because it can set up what has been a pretty good show for a fall. Since Nip/Tuck has always......

Jesse Harris, New York based singer/songwriter’s new album Feel, definitely has one doing just that. Not only is Feel his 7th album to date, he just recently wrote and composed, but not performed the entire soundtrack to Ethan Hawke’s film The Hottest State. While the soundtrack for the film has Harris performing just two of the songs and the likes of Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, M.Ward, Norah Jones and Cat Power taking hold of......

You want a little more variety in your life? How about checking out the diverse theater scene around town? Here are just five of the shows opening this weekend: Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical Yes, you read that right. The ’70s porn classic comes to the stage at the Key Club. Key Club. 9039 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. 310-274-5800. Tickets are $35-$55. Opens tonight at 8 pm. Runs Thursdays in August. Godislav A young......

Remember being young and in total desperate I’m going to die without you love? That exact and exquisite pain is what The Hottest State, Ethan Hawke’s film based on his first novel (out in the 1990’s) is all about. Hawke produced and directed the film that meanders its way through present day, 1970’s flashbacks, music sequences, and hot sex scenes through the eyes of William Harding, a sensitive and emotional twenty-one year old actor trying......

A Word or 44: The first 1/2 of the "24" season premiere was quite good even though I don't understand how Jack found the terrorist dude before his house got blown up. Also, was there some anal play going on between Jack and the first terrorist guy? Kinky. Tonight - Monday - January 15th, 2007 "Lawrence of Arabia" (TCM, 5:00 p.m.) Quite possibly the best movie ever made. "Hamlet" (IFC, 6:00 p.m.) Classic Shakespeare......

LAist is feeling a little bit depressed at the current selection of new films playing at the local cineplex. We're just feeling a little bit taken advantage of, and you're about to read why. We remember 1976. Do you? Do you remember a movie called John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13? Do you remember anything so amazing that it was worth remaking the same exact movie about twenty-eight years later? Do you have any idea......

LAist wasn't quite sure what to make of Trey Parker, Matt Stone and their patriotic puppets when we first got wind of Team America: World Police earlier this year, but after catching an early screening last night at the Paramount lot, we may just have to take one for the team. In addition to the language, violent situations, and insensitive commentary most will expect from the creators of "South Park", Team America: World Police......

We're never ones to turn down free stuff, and free stuff that's viewable from a passing trolley is even better. So today, we salute the Grove's summer concert series, which has been offering free shows every Wednesday this month. We're really sorry we missed out on Jada Pinkett Smith and Wicked Wisdom, whatever that is, but there's still time to catch the final show of the season tomorrow night. Music in malls stirs up......