Emile Hirsch now regretting agent's 'can't miss' advice. | Photo courtesy of xiaming via flickr On Friday I surmised that Speed Racer would bomb and now the events of the weekend have borne that prediction out. The live-action cartoon sputtered to a weak $20.2M weekend, just ahead of What Happens in Vegas ($20M) and well behind the summer's first true blockbuster, Iron Man ($50.5M/$177.1M). Once the actual numbers come in on Monday, many expect Speed......

Heartless personality Jonathan Nail interrogates helpless patrons during opening weekend of Iron Man. | Video courtesy of Just Us Films No one doubted that Iron Man would easily top the box office this weekend, but the scale of its success is virtually unprecedented. The latest entry from Marvel's deep stable of superheroes blasted early estimates of $60-70M by raking in a mammoth $104.3M since Thursday night's late showings. It was the second-largest, non-sequel debut......

How did they convince Downey to actually fly this high? What a brave actor. | Photo courtesy of Paramount If you absolutely can't wait until 12:01 am on May 2nd to see what's looking to be the summer's first big blockbuster, the Aero Theater in Santa Monica is holding a charity screening of Iron Man on May 1st at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $20 and proceeds go the Aero Building Fund Donation. If seeing......

Anton Yelchin and Kat Dennings moon over each other in the shithouse | Photo courtesy of MGM Charlie Bartlett is the hardest type of film to review because even though it misses, it doesn't miss by terribly much. After watching it and thinking about it for awhile, I kept returning to an Australian movie I saw last summer, Introducing the Dwights. Like Charlie Bartlett it was a film built on a curio of a......

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Hollywood's latest exercise in Rashômon-style storytelling is Vantage Point. As most of you no doubt realize because you've seen the trailer a quarter of a million times, Vantage Point deals with the attempted assassination of the President from a multitude of perspectives. As the movie's tagline says, "8 Strangers. 8 Points of View. 1 Truth." Critics have been flaming it with Variety's Justin Chang providing some choice barbs. I......

If any film cried out for a comprehensive DVD this year it was Zodiac. Casual viewers probably didn't realize it, but Zodiac was swimming in meticulously crafted CGI. Check out this video and be truly amazed by the subtle work of David Fincher and his team. Then, go out and buy the DVD. You know that it's been a good year at the movies when 3:10 to Yuma is only the third or fourth......

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.......

The Farm If you are done with traditional theatre with stage/actor, seats/audience, tonight is a good night to break that mold. The Farm is an ongoing series of evenings of new, short plays written and directed by local writers and performed in unusual, site-specific settings. This installment includes pieces specifically written for the loft spaces at Bedlam on 6th Street by some of Los Angeles' edgiest writers; an original dance piece created especially for......

Staggering in the footsteps of several other celebrities who found themselves in similar situations after consuming too much and saying or doing inappropriate things (Rush Limbaugh, Martin Lawrence, Courtney Love, Charlie Sheen, Kelsey Grammer, Andy Dick, and of course Robert Downey Jr.,) today Mel Gibson entered rehab for his drinking problem. David Mamet, yes that David Mamet, makes a funny at Mad Max's plight. In other bad news, Beck's new video and song is......

One of the best perks of living in LA is access to movies in limited release. After all, they help counteract the proverbial blockbuster fizz. Here are a few movies opening in limited release right now. American Zion - Western starring Sam Hennings and Brenda Strong. In 1833 Missouri, the Steed family witnesses the persecution of a community of Mormons, which eventually spurs a massive migration to the West. [local showtimes] Kiss Kiss, Bang......