Photo courtesy of Miramax When was the last time an actor executed a more profound career turnaround than Casey Affleck? Gone Baby Gone is his second superb performance of the year. If you don't see it for him, see it for Amy Ryan's breakout, Oscar-nominated turn. The mere presence of the divine Anne Hathaway makes Becoming Jane worth renting. James McAvoy was better in this than in the over-hyped (but still good) Atonement. No......

There's a few new shows and seasons starting this week, including the 2 hour premiere of "Lost" on Thursday but it all just feels like a build-up to the Super Bowl. 6:00pm State of the Union Address VARIOUS - Unless he gets the Constitution amended, this is his last one, time for a party. 9:00pm Intervention A&E - If you've been watching "Breaking Bad" the last couple weeks, here's the real deal on crystal meth......

So I spent my Sunday sick as a dog on the couch watching, of all things, football, literally because I was too wiped to find the clicker and move on. I'd forgotten how obnoxious the graphics were and how pompous and full of itself football has become. Still, gotta watch the Super Bowl for the commercials so I still have some time to devote to that. Am dismayed that the talentless hack Ryan Seacrest is......

At this point my whole week is focused on getting to AMC's Breaking Bad which debuts this upcoming Sunday. AMC scored a couple Golden Globes with Mad Men, let's see if they can repeat the success. On face value Breaking Bad is more interesting than anything the Big Four have planned for us. Late night is troubling me lately since NBC and Comedy Central aren't posting their guests into the news feeds or their websites......

I've managed to avoid watching NFL playoffs and college bowl games but I'm getting worn down, I'm tellin' ya. If I got the Fox Movie Channel I would watch Less Than Zero tonight at 7pm because I'm just about as strung out as Robert Downey Jr.was in that flick. I'm not begging for the writers to capitulate, I want them to win, I'm just begging the networks to send me some shite to write about.......

It all started with Anthony Bourdain's Mexican border episode of his show No Reservations. At one point he picks up a riding crop in a leather shop. He slaps it confidently against the palm of his hand, and says, "Yeah, this is coming home with me." I've always been attracted to his superior punk New York attitude. But the "whack" of that riding crop took it somewhere new. I confessed to my boyfriend, "I'm sorry......

Even though Rush Hour 3 did top the box office this weekend, I take some solace in the fact that it underperformed at 50.2 million dollars. Considering that New Line gave away so much profit to get the movie made, there's hope that we've seen the last of the never-funny pairing of Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. Bourne Ultimatum had a solid second week, adding 33.6 million to raise its cume to 132.3 million.......

In what the Wall Street crowd might call a flight to quality, North American audiences made The Bourne Ultimatum this weekend's box office champ by spending 70.1 million dollars on the superb third installment of the Matt Damon franchise. Expect across-the-board great reviews and excellent word-of-mouth to keep Bourne afloat for the rest of the summer, especially now that the release schedule is lightening up a bit. The Simpsons Movie nose-dived 65% after an......

For what seems like the first time in years, The Simpsons actually exceeded expectations. The first movie of America's first animated family took in a whopp(er)ing 71.8 million dollars at the box office this weekend, demolishing even the most optimistic of estimates. Credit Fox's clever marketing campaign and the opportunity to finally see Bart's shrimpy doodle. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry finished a distant second, making 19 million bucks to raise its......

Anthony Bourdain, the bad boy of the culinary world, is known for eating anything. He's in town on Sunday at Vroman's in Pasadena reading from his new book, The Nasty Bits. Bourdain, the executive chef of Les Halles in NYC and current host of the Travel's Channel's No Reservations, has eaten stuff straight outta Fear Factor: blowfish, roasted sheep's testicle and the still-beating heart of a cobra. Tasty, huh? But when he's in town......