Tired of bloated blockbusters? See this movie today. | Photo courtesy of Lionsgate They really don't make movies like The Bank Job anymore. In fact, it almost feels like a relic from another age with its focus on plot and character development instead of...well, lingering takes on movie stars (see Hancock). After a surprisingly strong theatrical run, The Bank Job is hands-down the movie you should be renting/buying today. If it has nothing else (and......

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 courtesy of Universal Wow! Most weeks I'm happy if there are a couple of new DVDs worth picking up. Today, I count at least eight that would be solid editions to any library. American Gangster may not have been the great film that many were expecting, but it was still solid studio fare. I'll say the same for Michael Clayton even though it inexplicably got better critical attention. Has Ang Lee ever made......

FILM ”Cinema Legacy” – a series in its 7th year by the American Film Institute and the Skirball Cultural Center – brings in filmmakers, actors, writers to discuss the origins of their own artwork. Tonight, director Jason Reitman introduces 1999’s Election – starring Reese Witherspoon-Matthew Broderick – as the film that inspired him to become a director. 7:30 pm // Skirball Cultural Center – Magnin Auditorium // 2701 Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles // $6-$10. ART......

Yesterday, famed and veteran Los Angeles fashion designer, Mr. Blackwell, talked up his worst-dressed women list, just released this morning, with LAist. He began the annual list 48 years ago. "I was sick of the ugly clothes that were being presented in the fashion industry and as dress designer I wanted to express my opinion. I never expected it to be this big." This year's list (which is after the jump) left Britney Spears alone,......

When Sharon Stone wears a gown that looks like she's been shot or Lindsay Lohan goes out in public in an insanely sheer dress, Mr. Blackwell considers their candidacy for his annual top 10 worst dressed. Countless actresses and singers made questionable wardrobe choices in 2007. The overexposed, the under-dressed, and the over-the-top take center stage in this yearly ritual. Tomorrow Mr. Blackwell, the well-known fashion critic and designer, will unveil his 48th Annual Worst-Dressed......

Producers and writers have been talking and numbers are starting to be released. Nothing's final yet, but this strike could be soon over. What does $9.3 million buy the LAPD? It will finish the job on a backlog of 6,700 of DNA testing for sexual assault cases. Les Deux Cafe, a club where celebiatches Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears hang out, was scene to a fight early this morning that led to......

Happy Halloween Britney! Her pink leopard print leotard is amazing. Exactly what I would be doing after I lost custody of my kids- partying at Heidi Klum's Halloween party - Daily News In more Britney news....cocaine use claims are flying all over the place Malibu mansion party - Female First And in more cocaine related news, tennis star Martina Hingis is accused of testing positive for the drug at Wimbleton this year - People Big......

To no one's surprise 30 Days of Night topped the box office this weekend, though its 16 million dollar take hardly qualifies it as a hit. Year-over-year, it is the fifth down weekend in a row and relief doesn't appear to be in sight for a few more weeks when American Gangster and Bee Movie should pull some asses into seats. Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? held up fairly well in its......

For what seems like the 300th time this year, Hollywood is giving us a movie based on a graphic novel. That movie is 30 Days of Night and stars the lethally inexpressive Josh Hartnett as a small-town sheriff charged with the task of protecting Barrow, Alaska from a rampaging horde of hungry (or is thirsty?) vampires. All I can say is, "at least it's rated R". I'll probably sit this one out and wait......

Whether or not the movie Hard Candy frightens you is going to depend entirely on whether or not you have testicles. My male friends cringed throughout this movie and tell me it scared the hell out of them. I had an entirely different experience. It was the first thriller I have ever watched without being frightened. The entirety of the film is based on the interplay between two characters alone together in an isolated house.......

Sunday night was in a word, magical. Rufus Wainwright transformed the Hollywood Bowl into a beautiful tribute to Judy Garland. At one point he thought he felt a drop of rain, but unlike Judy's 1961 performance at the Bowl, the weather remained cool and cloudburst free. The audience showered Rufus and his guests, his mother Kate McGarrigle, his sister Martha Wainwright, and Judy Garland's daughter Lorna Luft with love and affection and a few standing......

Too often one walks into Ralph's Grocery in Sherman Oaks store at 1 or 2 am to find porn stars shopping. andPOP reports that Body & Soul Tattoo at Ventura Blvd./Van Nuys Blvd. "has been inundated with new customers since the pop star's impromptu visit." The local Business Improvement District (BID) and Chamber of Commerce owe Britney Spears a thank-you letter. Daily News thinks celebrities feel comfortable flipping out in the Valley. Interesting observations,......

American Idol hit Birmingham, Ala., last night – home of former Idolers Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard and Bo Bice. It took Ryan Seacrest less than 15 seconds to get a Lynryd Skynyrd reference (“Sweet Home Alabama”) in there. (But then again, it is Ryan Seacrest, so he was probably thought the scriptwriters were referring to the Reese Witherspoon movie.) There were a few things apparent from the get-go:Paula either had a bad night or......

Leaving Hollywood we saw a pile of fancy envelopes next to a dumpster in an alley off Selma. We braved the cast-off catering debris and found these: The George W. Bush Award for Mispronunciation: To Jack Nicholson, for rhyming "Capote" with "chipotle." The James Cameron Award for Inappropriate directorial thank you: Ang Lee to his new Oscar "I wish I knew how to quit you." The Effort to Make Fiction Real Award: To the......

9:40 Jake and Heath stumble and laugh over the sappy script written for their Brokeback Mountain intro. They look darling, don't they? 9:45 Reese Witherspoon is gasping for breath as she accepts the best actress award for Walk the Line. She says June Carter Cash deserved to be brought out of the shadow and into the light. She thanks Joauqin: Wihtout your John, there was no June. Yep, that Reese Witherspoon is hitting all......

Horseraces! Handicaps! No sooner had we posted about the not-quiet-announced Oscar host than the SAG Award nominees were announced. The biggest surprise must be the nomination of Hustle & Flow in the "best performance by a cast" category (SAG's version of "best picture"), while none of the cast members were nominated individually. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Terrence Howard was robbed. Other than that, it's what you'd expect. Both leads......

Hollywood Reporter's Power 100 for Women in Entertainment issue was released yesterday (Anne Sweeney is #1 again). As Defamer noted yesterday, Ms. Sweeney got a fresh new headshot to go with her continued perch at the top rung and, apparently, Lifetime Television and the Reporter think the rest of the ladies need to freshen up. Our own top-secret Hollywood operative - who will only own up to be a female power player-in-training and not......

If you went to the Walk The Line premiere last night for the Opening of the AFI Film Festival on our account, we apologize. A reader writes in to explain the utter chaos of the affair:Last night’s premiere screening of “Walk The Line”(11/3), the Johnny Cash story, at AFI can only be described as sloppy and unappologetic as an oversold pre-Thanksgiving airline flight between LAX and JFK…in a snowstorm. Moviegoers paying upwards of $75......

The number of film festivals held in this town seems only slightly outnumbered by the number of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf outlets. But tomorrow, AFI Fest 2005 (Nov. 3-13) opens -- and in its 19th year -- this is one that shouldn't be ignored. A few of the week's highlights include: Walk the Line: The Johnny Cash biopic, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the Man in Black and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter Cash,......

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. That rainbow, just happens to be yet another PR-inspired star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Today (in fact, right around this minute) America's Sweetheart Sandra Bullock (yes, she's the current holder......

It won't count as a sighting on Defamer.com, but the stars of stage and screen will be accessible to the faithful at various screenings and tributes about town this month. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3 The American Cinematheque presents a double feature of Reese Witherspoon in "Vanity Fair" (2004) and Alexander Payne's "Election" (1999). A discussion with Ms. Witherspoon will take place between films. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4 The American Cinematheque pays home to American starlet Janet......