Still the champ but diminished | Photo courtesy of New Line Cinema It's usually good news for a movie when it wins the weekend box-office race. When the movie severely underperforms expectations, however, that win feels like more of a Pyrrhic victory. Such was the case with Semi-Pro this weekend as it only brought in about half of what was expected--a lowly $15.3M. Last week's champ, Vantage Point, held up well and took second......

A shy Will Ferrell covers his shame | Photo courtesy of New Line Cinema I'll go on the record and say that I think Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is the funniest movie in the last ten years. Will Ferrell's subsequent pictures--most of them amusing to varying degrees--have never lived up that early, brilliant standard. Semi-Pro is his latest picture and if its previews are any barometer of its quality, it looks like......

Photo by atomicshakespeares via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Suffering from an Oscar hangover? Then check out the next generation of hot filmmakers at The Beverly Hills Shorts Festival, which begins tonight and runs through the weekend. The studio that brought you such blockbusters as the "Lord of the Rings" franchise will soon become only the merest shadow of its former self: Warner Brothers will be absorbing New Line Cinema, which employs......

Photo courtesy of New Line Cinema If you think you know what Be Kind Rewind is all about, you're probably mistaken. The film's advertising would lead you to believe that it's a raucous comedy about two losers forced to re-make classic films on a zero budget to hilarious effect. While that's certainly a major plot point, it only exists to serve what I think is the film's subtext. Namely, Be Kind Rewind is a......

On the Pier in Santa Monica Mr. Lincoln, we like your pennies, says the US Postal service, just a day shy of his birthday. To celebrate, they announced today that postage will go up by 1 cent to 42 cents, effective May 12th. A 15-minute car chase had CHP officers trying to catch up with a woman wanted in a forgery case today. The pursuit began in El Monte and ended in Sylmar, reaching......

One of the nice little bonus touches that some films include are outtakes as the credits roll, or fancy graphics, or a special scene telling everyone to leave the theater (a la "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"), but "Superbad" has taken it a step further. The surprise summer hit comedy apparently displays a montage of drawings featuring penises during its end credits, a trend that some other films are being noted for. The trend being......

Anyone interested in movies is familiar with Ain't It Cool News and anyone familiar with Ain't It Cool is familiar with the Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow. The Roadshow was originally scheduled to make a stop in South Central to screen Friday next Friday, but lily-livered politicians decided to pull the permit at the last minute. Fortunately, the Roadshow decided they had to make a stop in L.A. so they've now scheduled a 10th anniversary......

Aaah, lucky number thirteen. Well, here on LAist, there's no such thing as an unlucky number, although there is such a thing as a coffee shop that's famous. You know, in sort of a trendy, wannabe, Paris Hilton kind of way. Coffe Bean & Tea Leaf #13 8793 Beverly Boulevard West Hollywood, CA 90048 Hours: Monday - Friday 6:00 AM - 12:00 AM Saturday - Sunday 7:00 AM - 12:00 AM If you watched......