Photo courtesy of The Weinstein Company Even though they are the two big releases today, I just couldn't bring myself to lead with the awful Saw IV and the even worse The Game Plan. Save yourself some money and buy the truly entertaining The Hunting Party instead. Remember that Jessica Simpson movie that made only a few hundred bucks in theaters a few weeks ago? It's out on DVD, ready to be ignored again.......

For those us who don't have HBO on Demand, we are just two days away from the season premiere of the fifth and final season of The Wire. Today, we're closing out our series of interviews, which has included Tristan Wilds and Andre Royo, with Jamie Hector who plays the king of the drug game on Baltimore's West side, Marlo Stanfield. Are you going to miss working on this show? Definitely, I have enjoyed......

After reviewing a few dozen releases this year this is my top ten of reviewed albums plus a few select tracks of items that I went out and hunted down myself. These weren't easy to select out of the great stuff I received so it was a challenge. I'd like to thank the labels and their PR agencies for hunting me down and sending CDs to me. I reviewed everything that I received this year......

Monday Maggie Nelson presents The Red Parts: A Memoir 7pm @ Pomona College, Claremont Rich Eisen presents Total Access 7pm @ Book Soup Sue Grafton signs T is for Trespass 7:30pm @ Barnes & Noble, 3rd Street Promenade Tuesday Sue Grafton signs T is for Trespass 6pm @ Vroman's Steve Schapiro presents Schapiro's Heroes 7pm @ Book Soup Christine Pelosi presents Campaign Book Camp 7pm @ Book Soup Deborah Landis presents Dressed: A Century......

FARMERS MARKET: Downtown’s latest farmers market takes place in the Fashion District. So hit up some holiday shopping then treat yourself to some of the freshest foods around. 4-7 pm // Fashion District // 716 S. Los Angeles St., Downtown // Free. ART: Diego Cardoso is the Executive Officer of Transportation Development and Implementation for the MTA who headed the East Side Gold Line project. He's also on the city planning commission. But his......

Monday Keith Gessen & Chad Harbach discuss the latest issue of n+1 7pm @ Book Soup Jay Inslee & Bracken Hendricks presents Apollo's Fire 7pm @ Vroman's Jenna Bush signs Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope 7pm @ Barnes & Noble, The Grove Robert Hass presents Time & Materials 7pm @ Central Library Tuesday John Leake presents Entering Hades 7pm @ Book Soup Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg present Superbad: Seth's Drawings 7pm @......

I love shooting macro photos, especially involving things that don't move. It really allows you to leave the shutter open for a while and get some crazy detail on very small objects. For me, it takes a lot of things that people would find mundane and turns them into objects of beauty. I took a failed trip to McLogan's this morning, not knowing that they would be closed on Friday. As the foremost supplier to......

Mike Watt & The Missingmen @ Westside Eclectic Johnette Napolitano @ Roxy José González, Cass McCombs @ El Rey Jill Sobule @ Largo Honeycut, The Library @ Knitting Factory Gym Class Heroes, Plain White T's @ Long Beach Arena The Color Fred, Dear & the Headlights @ El Rey The Dirges, Disk Jockey Full of Bourbon @ Safari Sam's Head of Destiny, Killing Jonis, Killing Bees @ The Scene So So Glos, The Black......

The WGA and the producers are back at the negotiating table, hopefully they will catch the breaks that they need so that the collapse of Western civilization is averted. In a desperate attempt to avoid family time over the holiday, I managed to watch season one of Showtime's Dexter and my optimism for the future of mankind was restored. I missed Dexter when it premiered last year but was happy to cover the zany stunts......

The man responsible for killing a woman and her two young children in a street-racing accident last month has been tracked down and arrested in Mexico; Martin Marones is expected to be charged with three counts of murder. So many questions! Has "Heroes: Origins" been shelved? Or just "postponed" due to the writers strikes? Will we ever find out who's been offing the group of twelve? And what's up with this ADAM guy??? Two......

With lines wrapping around the Borders bookstore in Torrance, yesterday Slash signed autographs and stoked fans of all ages excited and holding a copy of his new aptly titled book, "Slash". Arriving at 7:45, I saw that if i wanted to get a signed copy of Slash's book, i was going to have to wait in a line to get into the line that zig-zagged through the bookstore. I am not that patient, and......

Monday Shalom Auslander presents Foreskin's Lament 7pm @ Vroman's Valerie Plame Wilson presents Fair Game 7pm @ Carpenter Performing Arts Center, Long Beach Barbara Firestone presents Autism Heroes 7pm @ Dutton's Slash presents Slash 7pm @ Borders, Torrance Lawrence Wright presents The Looming Tower 7:30pm @ UCLA Tuesday David Plante, with host Mark Danielewski, presents ABC 7pm @ Book Soup Michael Lent presents Christmas Letters from Hell 7pm @ Vroman's Tommy Lasorda & Bill Plaschke......

Unless you are a hardcore devotee of the 3-camera sitcom format (How I Met Your Mother, etc.) then Monday has somehow turned into NBC night. Check out late night offerings as you can while the writer's strike gains traction - Letterman and Conan have good guests. 8:00pm Chuck NBC - TV Junkie 8:00pm Pick 9:00pm Carol Burnett: A Woman of Character PBS - For some she's an annoyance, for many she's a classic, if you're......

Some Trekkies are having heart palpitations over this: William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk, will not be in the 2008 release of Star Trek. While Leonard Nimoy gets to play the resurrection of his character, Spock, there is no place for Shatner and the cocky and horny Boston Legal character is disappointed, he told the Associated Press: 'I couldn't believe it. I'm not in the movie at all. Leonard, God bless his heart, is in,......

A lotta hungover people in Boston today, no doubt - and with that drama, who the eff was watching the GOP debate? I don't really care about that much this week other than the Damages finale tomorrow night, but first things first. Late night's a bust with almost 100% repeats tonight. Did you catch last night's Curb Your Enthusiasm? Hilarious that Larry David's fictional wife is also leaving him - brilliant too. 8:00pm Chuck NBC......

Here's a Music Medley of some tunes from bands reviewed or highlighted here over the last couple months (some lyrics NSFW BTW): No Age - Every Artist Needs a Tragedy Caribou - Irene Five O' Clock Heroes - Head Games Bitter:sweet - Dirty Laundry (Skeewiff Remix) CINEMATIC: Classic Film Music Remixed - The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3 Main Title (Phillip Charles' Signs in Mallorca Rewerk) Shocking Pinks - Victims Sunset Rubdown - Colt......

Some cool stuff heard over the weekend: Stephen Colber(t) is writing a column for the New York Times. Jimmy Kimmel will be doing 2 shows a day, 1 on each coast: Live With Regis and Kelly in NYC in the AM, and then Jimmy Kimmel LIVE from LA in the PM. The insanity starts on 10/22 and goes for a week. 8:00pm Chuck NBC - This still feels pretty new and engaging although they are......

The annual Epilepsy Freedom Walk took place this morning in Griffith Park with honorary chairman Greg Grunberg of "Heroes" fame leading the crowd of supporters. We have previously highlighted this event here on LAist. To find out how you can help the work of the Epilopsy Foundation, visit The Epilepsy Foundation. Photos after the jump.........

After a raucous couple of weeks we're settling in now. We know what sucks (Moonlight and about a jillion other programs) and what's pretty good (Chuck and just a handful of others). It's a matter of choosing a couple to follow now as we wait for the delayed series like Nip/Tuck, etc. 7:00pm The Pride of the Yankees TCM - The Gary Cooper classic is followed by Anthony Perkins in Fear Strikes Out, yes, it's......

On Sunday, October 14 the Epilepsy Foundation will host their annual Freedom Walk in Griffith Park. I spoke with Greg Grunberg, the Honorary Chair of the walk, about his involvement with the organization. "It's a fun two hour walk in Griffith Park. We are raising a lot of money for The Epilepsy Foundation. Our team is called the Crazy Brainwaves. It's led by my eleven year old son Jake who has had epilepsy since he......

Current Carolla co-pilot Danny Bonaduce will not be charged with felony battery for tossing "Survivor" contestant Jonny Fairplay onto a stage at the Fox Reality Really Awards Monday. Prosecutors said Fairplay "initiated contact and acted offensively." How much of a dude is Bonaduce for throwing a guy on a stage and getting the prosecutors to say the other guy was offensive? A man died today after his plane crashed into the median divider at......

Yesterday I was lucky enough to hang out with a real super hero - even if he just plays one on TV. Greg Grunberg, who plays Officer Matt Parkman on "Heroes", gave me a personal backstage tour, allowed me to view the taping of a scene with the adorable Adair Tishler, and treated me with access to the inner workings of the magical world of NBC's hottest show. We even spent some time with......

8-11pm CBS - All new episodes of: How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory (series premiere!), Two and a Half Men, Rules of Engagement, CSI: Miami 8:00pm The War PBS - I think PBS completely effed this up by taking this great series head-to-head against a week of season and series premieres on the networks and cable. They should have shown it last week or the week before where there wasn't jack-shit......

Are you counting down the minutes for "Heroes"? While we are all waiting for tonight's season premiere, here are some films the actors made backstage. Enjoy! "Grunny Goes Nuts!" starring Adrian Pasdar and Greg Grunberg several more after the jump.........

Artist: Five O'Clock Heroes Album: Bend To the Breaks Label: Glaze Records Release Date: September 18th, 2007 I can't tell you how much I needed to get this record. I've been listening to and reviewing a seemingly endless series of shoegazey-type boys without a testicle between them. The Five O'Clock Heroes produce good old rock and roll with every bass note, guitar chord, and drum thump as real as real can get. Some mention the......

Common - "The People" "The People" was one of our most-played summer jamz. It was on Kanye's "Can't Tell Me Nothin" sampler because Kanye produced it and listen to how sweet it is. It's the sort of non-thug, uplifting, positive hip-hop that people once talked about, but now people are buying. This is the direction BEP could have gone if they hadn't chosen the path of the lowest common denominator aka the Gwen Stefani......

Back in 2004, Dodger’s owner Frank McCourt made the unpopular decision to get rid of radio play-by-play announcer Ross Porter. Porter had been on the job for 28 years, and considering he had to work with color commentator Rick Monday since 1993 he should’ve gotten hazard pay. Porter was by no means as eloquent and compelling as Vin Scully. With a few exceptions no one can enter the realm of Vin Scully. But Porter......

The California Independent System Operator (CAISO), charged with managing the electricity grid in California, has issued a Flex Alert for both tomorrow and Thursday due to the current hot weather and demand for electricity, which is approaching capacity. Flex it by turning off unnecessary lights, turn ing AC up to 78 degrees or higher and not using major appliances until after 7:00 PM Free jazz tonight at Hollywood and Highland along with a wine......

It's too bad that Ali Larter's power in Heroes isn't the ability to seduce Hayden Panettiere. Is Blades of Glory the last funny Will Ferrell movie? His act is getting ripe. Make Anchorman 2 quickly, damn it! Year of the Dog was one of the most depressing movies in years. Everyone says I should watch Friday Night Lights. Is it better than Greek? How could it be? Jamie Kennedy may have finally reached the......

I like AM radio. I like sports. So when you combine the two forces and create sports talk radio, I am in heaven. Last October Mancow mania finally faded into oblivion, so when KLAC AM 570 teamed up Fred Roggin, Tracy Simers, and L.A. Times Sports Columnist T.J. Simers for the much coveted 6-9am time slot before The Jim Rome Show , I gave it a chance. It couldn't get any worse, right? Roggin......