Results tagged “kristenwiig”

       

The Labor Day weekend is typically a slow time for the movie business as everyone makes one final attempt to catch some elusive summer magic (e.g. sleep with unattainable lust object). As such, The Final Destination was the best of a weak bunch as it nabbed $12.4M ($47.5M) to top the weekend box office. Terrible newcomer All About Steve finished a reasonably close second ($11.2M) just ahead of the steady Inglourious Basterds ($10.8M | $91M). Gamer disappointed in its debut ($9M) as audiences showed a rare flash of sound judgment.

                     

Is it just me or is there a surprising lack of public excitement about the release of Extract? I mean, Mike Judge and Jason Bateman working together on a film? Either one of these guys pulls me into a theater, but both together-- that's nirvana. On the other hand, is anyone looking forward to Gamer? Gerard Butler is rapidly squandering the capital he earned back when he was just a working actor. If you don't know what I mean, watch how great he was in Dear Frankie. Hell, he was even good in Timeline and that movie blew!

Defying all expectations (and good common sense), Fast and Furious roared to the top of the weekend box office chart with an April-record haul of $72.5M. Last week's champ, Monsters vs. Aliens, came in a very distant second ($33.5M/$105.7M), but easily outdistanced A Haunting in Connecticut ($9.5M/$37.2M), the awful Knowing ($8.1M/$58.2M) and the hilarious I Love You, Man ($7.8M/$49.2M). In the latest indictment of America's cultural decline, the wonderful Adventureland limped to a weak, sixth-place finish ($6M).

There is one movie that everyone should see this weekend and that movie is Adventureland. Alternately funny and touching, it is another rousing success from director Greg Mottola (LAist review here). That said, there is another movie that probably everyone will actually see and that is Fast & Furious. I admit it -- I liked the first title in this series. It had a Point Break-ish quality to it. But is this latest reboot really necessary? Pass.

After more than a decade in the wilderness following his fine 1996 debut, The Daytrippers, director Greg Mottola roared back into public consciousness in 2007 with the wonderfully foul Superbad. His follow-up to that, Adventureland, is a much gentler work that should cement his position as a sought-after director for years to come. Based on Motttola's teenage experiences working at an amusement park in the 80s, the film is a wonderful conflation of two disparate genres: daffy comedy and genuinely affecting coming of age flick.

Much like his countryman Eddie Izzard, Ricky Gervais has never been able to find the right feature film material to properly showcase his sharp and unusual comic persona. While his television work in Britain ( is a needlessly sprawling, confusing and manipulative mess.

LAist has had a regular column about television for almost two years now - we're not saying it's a good column, but it's been very regular, which is something to think about as you get older. While Los Angeles has been a mecca of film for the last 75 years or so the migration of TV production to Los Angeles didn't really begin until 50 years ago. For the most part, TV, like radio, started in New York City (please, no snarky comments about Philo T. Farnsworth inventing TV in San Francisco) where all the major networks are still based along with MTV, Comedy Central, HBO, and it's where more than 100 TV shows are produced.