During a recent and revealing interview in Los Angeles with The Mirror, "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe admitted to many things, one of them being fornicating with his fans. "I was always very nervous about the groupie thing," said Radcliffe. more ›

Getting drunk before heading off to work isn't just for Pat Sajak. Daniel Radcliffe told a British tabloid that while he was regularly getting hammered during his days filming "Harry Potter." more ›

After die-hard fans in Southern California camped out for days, the final "Harry Potter" movie did not disappoint studio executives, reports Forbes. Grossing $43.5 million, the film became the highest-earning midnight debut ever. Wizards beat vampires in the epic showdown, with "Harry Potter" out-grossing "Twilight"'s midnight debut by over $13 million. more ›

You've seen the "It all ends here" billboards around L.A. -- Deathly Hallows 2, the final installment of the Potter saga premieres July 15th in the states. Interviews with stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and author JK Rowling from today's YouTube-cast red carpet extravaganza are served up below for your video lunch. more ›

Trailers for Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 promise "the motion picture event of a generation." While that honor (sadly) still belongs to Avatar, franchise fans have plenty to cheer about with the release of the penultimate Potter film. Warner Bros. unleashes The Deathly Hallows on over 4,000 screens nationwide this weekend, including IMAX screenings in Burbank, Century City, The Howard Hughes Center, Universal CityWalk and Woodland Hills. more ›

Crumbs is constantly reinventing itself every month with new cupcakes matched with current events. When it was Elvis' birthday, the released a magical fried peanut butter cupcake. Now Harry Potter is out and the sweets are casting spells like Stupify, a vanilla cake with light green vanilla frosting, decorated with m&m's, chocolate chips, colored sprinkles, and toffee. This reminds us: awhile back, Harry Potter Jelly Beans hit the market. You know, with classic flavors like Earwax, Booger, Sausage, Black Pepper, Vomit, Dirt, Soap, Rotten Egg, Pickle and Earthworm. Yummmm... or not. We'll be sticking with cupcakes this time around. more ›

LAist has already seen the excellent Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and this weekend the rest of Los Angeles will likely follow suit. One small quibble, though: how do you leave out the [ ] of [ ]? It would have been one of the most powerful scenes in the entire series. That said, the realization of the pathetic Horace Slughorn is fantastic; the scene in the cave is top-notch; and the Quidditch play (especially Ron's Keeper sequence) has never been better. Thank God, the Deathly Hallows is being split into two films. Lots to cover! more ›

Emerson Spartz and Ben Schoen are, respectively, the founder and webmaster of the world’s most popular Harry Potter website, MuggleNet. Emerson was 12 when he founded the website in 1999 and just graduated from the University of Notre Dame. Ben has been webmaster at MuggleNet, which gets 27 million hits monthly, since he was in high school. He’ll begin his junior year at Notre Dame this fall. more ›

Last summer The Dark Knight earned $18.5 million in midnight screenings. Then came along Harry Potter last night bringing in a record $22.2 million. Earlier this summer, the horribly-awesome-but-really-horrible Transformers made $16 million on its first night of midnight screenings followed by the "second biggest single day gross in history of $62 million," according to Hollywood.com who notes that reviews for the new Harry Potter "have been the strongest for any film in the franchise and that means word-of-mouth buzz will be strong and will propel the grosses on an upward momentum rather than the typical drop-offs." All that could mean more records to be broken this weekend. more ›

The Sacred Fools Theatre Company hosts “Ten Tops! An Eclectic Open Performance Event” tonight at 8 pm. Ten performers get seven minutes apiece to do anything they want—from “sketch comedy to dramatic readings, rock & roll to interpretive dance, spoken word poetry to apocryphal mime-ery.” If you’re interested in testing out your own new material there will be signups at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $10. more ›

If old and rare books are your thing, you're in luck this weekend. The 41st California International Antiquarian Book Fair opens at 2pm today and runs through Sunday. more ›

It was a great year of new books, re-discovered books, and books we meant to get to last year but didn't. The end of the year is nearly here and before we look forward, we'll take a look back. Last week, LAist Editors shared their favorite books of 2007. This week, a few LAist Contributors share their favorite book they read this year: more ›

Online book retailer Amazon.com announced today that they have purchased an original, hand-written and hand-bound copy of J.K. Rowling's "The Tales of Beedle the Bard," a book of children's stories that plays a major role in the plot of "The Deathly Hallows." The book, one of only seven made, was auctioned off in London at Sotheby's for 1.95 million pounds. Proceeds from the auction are going to The Children's Voice Campaign, a charity that benefits needy and institutionalized children worldwide. The book was expected to fetch only about $100,000 -- clearly Sotheby's was underestimating the Potter fanbase. more ›

The and wonder why James Taylor didn't become a famous actor. more ›

It's nice to see the largest newspaper west of the Mississippi delving into the breaking news concerning the alternative sexuality of a fictional character. While the hills were alive with fire, while the nation is at war over lies, the Times wielded its muscle to contact Andrew Slack of the Harry Potter Alliance who helped them read the writing on the wall regarding the fantasy wizard dude and who he liked to hold hands... more ›

Ian McKellan has got to be bitching his agent out this very second -- in an appearance at Carnegie Hall last week, J.K. Rowling revealed that Professor Albus Dumbledore, the late great headmaster of Hogwarts was actually -- gasp! -- a gay! Newsweek magazine broke the story: One fan asked whether Albus Dumbledore, the head of the famed Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, had ever loved anyone. Rowling smiled. "Dumbledore is gay, actually,"... more ›

Jessica got rufied and gang-raped. A Harry Potter-loving nerd beat up his sister then killed himself. And a deranged student fired off a semi-automatic weapon into the cafeteria of a high school. Yes, it was a busy day in hell, as told by the cast of Hollywood Hellhouse. But it was all in a day’s work. Created by Maggie Rowe, Hollywood Hellhouse is a spoof of Christian-themed haunted houses that are put on by... more ›

For what seems like the first time in years, The Simpsons actually exceeded expectations. The first movie of America's first animated family took in a whopp(er)ing 71.8 million dollars at the box office this weekend, demolishing even the most optimistic of estimates. Credit Fox's clever marketing campaign and the opportunity to finally see Bart's shrimpy doodle. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry finished a distant second, making 19 million bucks to raise its total to a dismally robust 71.6 million after two weeks. Why, America? Why? more ›

Here are a few choice picks for your gaming pleasure, courtesy of the good people at Gamespot: Nintendo Wii Mario Strikers Charged (Sports) Nintendo DS Picross DS (Puzzle) Sony Playstation Portable Brave Story: New Traveler (Role-Playing) World Championship Cards (Strategy) PC Combat Mission: Shock Force (Strategy) Ride! Carnival Tycoon (Strategy) MAC Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Adventure) Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars (Strategy) Photo by DsWii via flickr... more ›

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a picture displaying the woes of cruising in a tacky limo on the streets of San Francisco. more ›

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry eked out a win this weekend, just besting Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The moronic Sandler vehicle earned 34.7 million versus 32.1 million for the latest, infinitely superior Harry Potter installment (now at 207.5M). My guess is that the release of Deathly Hallows cost Order of the Phoenix a second consecutive weekend crown (I still can't believe that Voldermort turned out to be Harry's father!). The other new wide release, Hairspray, pulled in a decent 27.8 million. Travolta is back! Again. more ›

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too - two of them in -Ist cities. more ›

- JetBlue to match Virgin's prices to NYC - The final offer has been submitted by the union of clerks for the LA and Long Beach Ports. If not accepted, strikes could begin Monday, stopping work for 40% of cargo container traffic in the country. 15,000 longshoremen of a different union have also agreed to honor the picket lines. - West Adams, or WeAd is the black WeHo. - Harry Potter Fools! Why wait... more ›

Why wait until you get home to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when you can read it on the sidewalk moments after purchase? That's what these three decided to do. And after a few pages in, what's the Harry Potter review? "Pretty good." That doesn't sound like much of an enthusiastic answer, but give 'em a break, they were at Borders in Sherman Oaks by 5:30 a.m. Luckily, it wasn't an all-day... more ›

Since it is the last Harry Potter weekend, allow me to open with a relevant quote from the late (or is he?) Albus Dumbledore, "I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being--forgive me--rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger." This sentiment applies very well to Milos Forman and his new movie, Goya's Ghosts. In his long career, Forman has directed numerous superb films, deservedly winning Oscars for both Amadeus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Goya's Ghosts, however, is a true misstep. more ›

Harry Potter is a touchy subject these days. The books have been around for so long, that kids who once loved Harry Potter are growing increasingly embarassed by that fact and now distance themselves from the teen magician. Still older kids -- like, say, ADULTS -- have followed every book with a frenzy and will no doubt join in this week's madness as Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows hits stores all over LA. Then there's the whole drama over leaked pages, the perfectly timed movie premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the will Harry die/won't Harry die debates raging on message boards and so on. There's even a crazy woman who has incoroprated the new book into her wedding plans! Ugh - it's all a bit nuts. more ›

- Do you think Jamie Oliver is cute? We do. We also think he's a great cook. Check out this clip featuring his Lamb Curry Song. Curry looks great, the singing? Not so much. - EaterLA has worked itself into a frenzy over two new celeb chef restaurants: here's their first peeks into Craft LA and Osteria Mozza. So far Craft is winning the war of the reservation line. - Jonathan Gold loves The... more ›

Dana Bedford Hilmer and contributors present Blindsided by a Diaper 7pm @ Dutton's more ›

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix blew away not only the competition, but its own previous franchise records this week with a 140 million dollar opening 5 days. Expect Potter mania to reach its full flowering later this week when the 7th and final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, reaches stores. Transformers held steady at number two, dropping only 49% from the previous week (movies typically drop well over 50% after week one) and adding 36 million to its already fat pile of cash. Transformers now sits at 222.9 million and should become the 4th movie this summer to reach 300 million (assuming Order of the Phoenix doesn't do it first). more ›

Last night I got a ticket at the last minute to go see Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix, because my rabid Potter fan of a friend had discovered the release was bumped up from the 13th, (although the posters everywhere had not been changed). And while I'm not quite rabid, I did want to see it. It was a 10:30 showing at Grauman's Chinese Theater and I was still blissfully lounging... more ›