Erin Brockovich, the consumer advocate made famous by a 2000 movie named after her and starring Julia Roberts in the title role, is back in Hinkley, CA, testing the town's waters for toxic chemicals at the scene of the original crime. Brockovich, who was played by Julia Roberts in the film, led the charge in building a lawsuit against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company after discovering that the company had been leaking toxic chemicals into the water of Hinkley, a small community in San Bernadino County. more ›

America proved yet again that it is more than happy to reward crappy movies with large box-office hauls. The pointless The Last Exorcism "earned" $21.3M to top the mediocre Takers ($21M) and win the weekend. Recent powerhouse The Expendables slipped to third but still earned a ridiculous $9.5M ($82M). After that it was the lame Eat Pray Love ($7M | $60.7M) and the funny The Other Guys ($6.6M | $99.3M). more ›

Sylvester Stallone continued the late-career resurgence started by Rocky Balboa by virtually willing The Expendables to the top of the box-office heap. The nostalgic piece of pulp hauled in $35M to easily dispatch Eat Pray Love ($23.7M). Last week's champ, The Other Guys, enjoyed a strong hold in its second weekend ($18M | $70.5M) while Inception continued to print money ($11.3M | $248.5M). The wonderful Scott Pilgrim vs. the World failed to catch fire and only earned a disappointing $10.5M. 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 ›

A trio of newcomers stormed the box-office this weekend, thoroughly knocking down the mighty Avatar from its lofty aerie. The rancid and cynical Valentine's Day led the pack with a well undeserved $52.4M. Percy Jackson & The Olympians: Very Long Title pulled in a solid $31.1M to edge out the better-than-expected The Wolfman ($30.6M). After that it was the aforementioned Avatar ($22M | $659.6M) and the moronic Dear John ($15.3M | $53.1M). more ›

Sure the reviews haven't exactly been stellar, but I'm really looking forward to The Wolfman. Benicio + Tony + Emily + (most importantly) Rick Baker = my ass in the seat opening weekend! Thank God it is rated R for "bloody horror violence and gore." I'm sick and tired of these PG-13 horror flicks. Some might say that Valentine's Day is a cynical attempt to cash in on an all-star cast even though the underlying film is, in fact, awful. Oh wait, I would be saying that. Please avoid this film, America! more ›

When I think of my favorite movies of the last twenty years, the most curious inclusion is probably Whit Stillman's The Last Days of Disco. Now that it's been given the Criterion treatment (it's been out of print on DVD for years), I can't recommend it highly enough. If only Stillman would actually write and direct another film (Disco was his last and that was eleven years ago!). I enjoyed Adventureland so much at Sundance that I watched it again when it landed in theaters. Equally sad and sweet and funny, it was poorly marketed as a straight comedy and never really found an audience. I imagine that it will on DVD, though. Sunshine Cleaning was okay, but had that "deliberately quirky" vibe coursing through it. Duplicity was one of several failures earlier this year that probably marked the beginning of the end of the big-budget, adult-targeted film. Shame that. more ›

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Two very good studio films opened at the box office this weekend (I Love You, Man and Duplicity) and, naturally, neither of them managed to win the box office crown. That went to the terrifyingly moronic Knowing which tricked America's rubes into shelling out approximately $24.8M of hard-earned money. The quite funny I Love You, Man under-performed to the tune of $18M as did Julia Roberts' Duplicity which only managed to bring in $14.4M. Last week's champ Remake of Witch Mountain fell all the way to fourth but still had a solid performance ($13M/$44.7M). The ambitious Watchmen, however, continued to flounder ($6.7M/$98M). more ›

Knowing looks so spectacularly bad that it may almost be worth seeing. Nic Cage really is a national treasure. The Apatow brand is so strong these days that a movie like I Love You, Man -- which isn't even an Apatow film -- actually feels like one. I'll see it for the ravishing Rashida Jones alone. Does Julia Roberts still have juice at the box office? The performance of Duplicity will let us know. I'm gonna go with a 'no' on this one. I've never understood the fuss about her anyway. It's still appalling that she beat out Ellen Burstyn for the 2000 Oscar. more ›

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In a crowded weekend of new movies, it was zeroed in on $100 million ($4.1M/$98.3M). more ›

One day the golden touch of Judd Apatow will fade and one of his films will bomb (--but I'll be piling into the theater along with everyone else this weekend to marvel at the daring of John C. Reilly. more ›

Like tells a fascinating and (mostly) true story that's so improbable you wonder what's taken it so long to reach the big screen. If you don't already know, Charlie Wilson was a fairly nondescript Congressman from Texas (known more as a hedonist than a legislator) who almost single-handedly provided the money and weapons that the Afghan Mujahideen used to defeat the seemingly invincible Soviet Union. Wilson would ultimately (and secretly) funnel hundreds of millions dollars to the Afghan fighters and many credit his involvement as the turning point in the Soviet-Afghan War. more ›

Relatively speechless tonight because there's so little on TV and yesterday was pretty lame as well. The final schmaltzy segment of Tin Man aired to much disappointment, and Nip/Tuck started out great but fizzled about halfway through the episode. Tonight though, Tyler Perry actually returns to the show he created and that's a big deal so check TBS at 9:00pm. [Please note how I'm specifically not mentioning the Julia Roberts special on AMC as she... more ›

BOO-ya! There's still time to check out some Halloween events, including the Hollywood Hell House and Bordello's Voodoo Vixens Burlesque show tonight at 10p. This accident on the 5 may tie up traffic until tomorrow: authorities are still counting only 3 casualties, but who knows how drivers will react to the construction and clean-up now taking place. First the water, then the power, now the phones? Mayor Villaraigosa is proposing a 9-percent phone tax.... more ›

After a week without a sequel, we're back at it with the lovable scoundrels of "Ocean's 13". Sure, watching the same group of guys we've seen plunder Vegas and steal a Faberge egg plan another elaborate heist is rehashing already trodden ground, but I'll be damned if it isn't a good time. Add to that a torture-porn and another insufferable CG toon about penguins and we're in for an interesting weekend. more ›

Valentines Day is in just mere hours and for those of us who want to celebrate the holiday in true love fashion here is a short list of love or anti-love movies, perfect or the occasion. No Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts here. more ›

- Crew member hurt on the set of the new Julia Roberts / Tom Hanks film in Downey - ET more ›

hi my name is raymi and the first time i went to your city i went cuhrazy and i was thrown in a mental hospital at the UCLA Medical Center or some shit and they had to put me in four-point restraints and inject my left hip with something that knocked me out cos i was 100% hypo-manic, you know like the equivalent of doing a bunch of meth except i wasn't on meth at all. they were worried i would give myself a heart attack, i had to blow into this little box breathalizer styles and continuously blow to see what my heartrate was anyway before the injection fully kicked in i managed to get one of the restraints unbuckled, i started on the second one but soon passed out. i woke up and was all WTF!? more ›

Are there classes--like "Opening mouth, inserting foot 101" or "How to revive a flailing career or image"-- that celebs must take? Last year it was Tom Cruise on Oprah, then Tom Cruise chastizing Brooke Shields and psychology; this year we have former Basic Instinct stars trying to rage against the dying of the light (also known as obscurity in Hollywood). more ›

When did Matthew McConaughey become the new Meg Ryan? more ›

The SAG awards start with a bunch of actors telling their stories to the camera. more ›

With all the death and destruction currently overrunning society and overwhelming those striving for peace and goodwill, it's nice to know that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is doing their part to bring Los Angeles a rainbow on such a rainy day. more ›