This week, the real world marks the closing arguments in the court case against Prop. 8. Fittingly, the reel world responds with the premiere of documentary 8: The Mormon Proposition, at Laemmle's Sunset. Produced by former Mormons, and narrated by Milk scribe Dustin Lance Black, the film follows the money and the movement that pushed the legislation into being. To put the struggle in a historical perspective, the Nuart features Stonewall Uprising. The doc is the first to share the stories of Stonewall rioters, and in this spirit, the Nuart hosts Stonewall participant John O'Brien at Friday's evening show. We've come a long way, but there's still quite a ways to go. more ›

This week the Magic Castle is commemorating the 100th anniversary by conjuring up a series of celebratory events. Yesterday afternoon LAist was invited to witness Jim Bentley recreate Harry Houdini's famous straitjacket escape trick (see a video embedded below). more ›

LAist catches up with Michael J. Nelson, a former host of Mystery Science Theater 3000, as he talks about his latest project, RiffTrax. In the interview, he also gives us the scoop about political ads, bloopers and a possible live event in Los Angeles. more ›

It's not really a big Wednesday, I'm just making a reference to the obscure and awful surfer flick starring Jan Michael Vincent and Gary Busey. I've got a major case of the munchies as I write this so tonight's primetime is all about food for me. 8:00pm Back To You FOX - Series Premiere - oops, NOT[TD]. I'm not so sure I want to give Kelsey Grammar another chance on network TV. I would like... more ›

The season 3 premiere of FX's It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia is the pick of the night. This is arguably Danny DeVito's best work since L.A. Confidential and his best comedy work in almost 20 years. While it's true that since it's cable the cast can say "shit" and "asshole" but that's not a gimmick the show relies on too much. What the show does follow is what made Seinfeld a success - it's a... more ›

Man, didn't you just love "Freaks and Geeks"? Weren't you pissed when it got cancelled, almost as pissed as you were when they cancelled "Arrested Development"? Or, if you discovered it post-axe, weren't you pissed there was only one season to savor on DVD? But then The Forty-Year-Old Virgin came out and was really funny and did really well at the box office, and you were still pissed about "Freaks and Geeks", but at... more ›

A Word or 4 dozen : Somehow I totally missed posting that the Shield was on last night and again it was good. I think one would be hard-pressed to find more raw and compelling performances on any other show available on the networks or basic cable. Being a former SF resident, I haven't been able to get enough of Conan's broadcast from the Orpheum theater on Market Street- too bad that's still bum-junkie... more ›

Recommended Dixie Chicks - Shut Up & Sing - Remember when rugged individualism was the hallmark of the "American character"? Remember when that individualism was defined by a willingness to speak your mind? Remember when criticizing your governmental overlords was a patriotic duty? Yeah, me neither. But maybe country music trio The Dixie Chicks were trying to recall that mythologized frontier spirit when lead singer Nathalie Maines criticized President Bush for launching the Iraq... more ›

LAist waxes individual on Sundays, so this seems like the perfect time to tell you that I’m at LAX. I mean, I was; now I’m 2,000 miles away. I was going to post from the airport, but…. more ›