While it was expected that The Karate Kid and The A-Team would tussle for the weekend box office crown, the reality is that it was no contest. The pointless remake of the seminal 80s hit waxed on to the tune of $56M to easily dispatch the middling TV show reboot ($26M). Shrek Forever After continued to do better than anyone expected ($15.8M | $210M) while Get Him to the Greek ($10.1M $36.5M) and Killers ($8.1M | $30.6M) enjoyed reasonably good holds in their second weekends. more ›

While transitioning a moderately bad TV show like The A-Team to the big screen is little more than a lazy idea, re-making The Karate Kid is just downright awful and evil and pathetic. I can't remember the last time I was rooting so hard for a movie to utterly fail. Okay, maybe Sex and the City 2 a few weeks ago, but still! Winter's Bone was one of the breakout hits from this past year's Sundance Film Festival. Mark it down -- Jennifer Lawrence is going to be a star. Another movie about Coco Chanel? Wasn't one enough? Reviews have been middling for Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky so I think I'll pass. On the other hand, notices for Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work have been superb. She's still the funniest female comedian I've ever seen. See it! more ›

I enjoyed everything about Invictus -- the cast, the story, the filmmaker -- except the actual movie. Frankly, it was just dull. At the opposite end of the spectrum, I am very angry at Americans right now for throwing good money at the vile Valentine's Day. You know what happens now, right? They're going to make another "themed" movie like this -- New Year's Eve. And then another one. And another. When will you people ever learn? You suck. Extraordinary Measures felt more like a movie of the week than something that needed to be seen in theaters, but it did give us, "I already work around the clock!!!" Will that awful line reading supplant this beauty? The Messenger is quality filmmaking, but get ready to be depressed upon watching it. more ›

I really like Denzel Washington, but the only movie I'm interested in seeing this weekend is 44 Inch Chest. Seriously, have a look at this cast of grizzled English masters: Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, John Hurt and Tom Wilkinson! How can you miss that? Plus, the story is right up my alley: a group of old friends plot to rough up one of their wife's lovers. Cheers to that! more ›

A fun bit of trivia for film snobs & martial arts fans: Jackie Chan's Supercop was originally released on laserdisc by the prestigious Criterion Collection. The Nuart pays tribute to this cinematic masterwork with a midnight screening on Friday. The New Beverly features fellow Criterion alum, Krysztof Kieslowski, with two out of Three Colors, and the Aero has yet another with a Citizen Kane replay. For Overlooked Auteurs, visit the Cinefamily for a deadly double featuring director Ted Kotcheff (who? Mr. Rambo: First Blood & Weekend At Bernie's, that's who!). more ›

As LAist noted earlier today, tonight is National Night Out, uh, night. If you live in Northridge, you can catch a free outdoor screening of Kung Fu Panda at Northridge Park this evening. As noted in the press release from the office of Councilman Greig Smith (Greig? Really?): more ›

I understand the appeal of Steven Seagal far more than I ever will that of Adam Sandler. I've hated him in his comedies just as much as I have in his dramas. In fact, I've yet to make it through the entirety of even though Paul Thomas Anderson is high on my list of favorite directors. Considering all that, there's obviously no chance that I'll be seeing You Don't Mess with the Zohan. more ›

As expected (due to its wussy PG-13 rating and higher theater count) ($3.5M/$144.4M). more ›

Ordinarily, I'm completely disinterested in the box office performance of a movie. Sure, my innate sense of justice leads me to wish that good films will do well and bad films poorly, but I never check Boxofficemojo over the weekend to see how a movie is doing. I may keep on eye on Forgetting Sarah Marshall, though, to see if the weakening Apatow brand can regain some strength after the relative failures of will restore some order to Judd's universe. more ›

Even though finished third, totalling 11.1 million and now sitting at an unexpectedly robust 152.2 million. more ›

Before catching The Simpsons this past weekend, this LAist poster had to sit through -- not just one -- but four lame ass trailers. Usually, you get a 50-50 chance of seeing at least one good trailer...because, now call us crazy, but isn't the purpose of a movie trailer to entice people to actually go see the film? At the very least, aren't we supposed to say, "Yeah, the trailer's the best part of that movie..." more ›

The TV Junkie's picks for the night: 8:00-9:00pm Big Brother 8 CBS - LAist's editor-in-chief's fave (only on Sundays perhaps), but here it is, a new episode - is the Tommy Lee-wannabe gonna dis the hottie some more? 9:00-10:00pm American Chopper TLC -David Letterman's fave. The boys were just on his show and they were pretty darn entertaining. Lemme guess, the younger brother does something stupid. 10:00-11:00pm Mad Men AMC - A collection of... more ›

Every Friday, LAist is taking you on a trip down to Orange County to uncover the unique dining experiences that await adventurous eaters willing to explore beyond the county line. Chinese restaurants can generally be categorized into three different buckets: upscale “fusion” dining (aka tamed-down dishes with an "exotic" twist so that non-Chinese will eat them, but served on a pretty square plate so PF Chang’s can get away with charging $20 a dish);... more ›

-- 15 teams of sheriff's deputies and undercovers nabbed 58 people across Southern California Saturday on suspicion of providing alcohol to minors. It was the was the largest one-day "hey mister / shoulder tap" sting operation in state history. - MyFoxLA.com. -- A wildfire north of Anaheim charred 2,000+ acres and threatened homes. It's still burning, as is a smaller fire near Corona. Do your best to not burn down your neighborhood -- it's hot,... more ›

Paris, 2010. The French government, plum out of ideas about what to do with its crime-ridden housing projects, has surrounded them with a high concrete wall topped by razor wire. Drugs have taken over the ghetto. Except for one apartment block, where wiry Leïto is fighting to keep the nasty dudes at bay — even if it means stealing a load of cocaine and washing it down the tub. more ›