After two weeks of middling studio releases (e.g. Sex and the City 2: Bitches Abroad, Shrek 4: Again?, Prince of Persia 1: Why?), we finally get some decent product today. Fresh off its recent Sundance success, Splice launches into theaters as a thinking-man's Species. Brody and Polley give this horror flick extra class and oomph. I didn't love Russell Brand in Sarah Marshall, but I'll give Get Him to the Greek a shot -- mostly due to the always interesting Jonah Hill. The presence of the lethally dull Sean Combs is cause for alarm, however, more ›

To any who haven't heard the grisly news, Artie Lange is recovering from an awful suicide attempt back east. As a longtime fan of The Howard Stern Show, I hope he gets back back to a healthier place soon. Let me get this straight -- Magnolia and Boogie Nights on Blu-ray on the same day? Can I call in sick to work? More stuff like Che, Steven. Less like this shit. How can you not love Kirby Dick? Anyone who outs self-hating conservatives is aces. I would watch Damages just to watch Rose Byrne floss her teeth. How is it that Ricky Gervais can't not make great TV shows, but can't get close to making an entertaining movie? I wish the wonderful Kate Beckinsale of Cold Comfort Farm and The Last Days of Disco would replace her current, soulless incarnation. Dorf! And they're still making Blair Witch titty-based parodies? What year is it? more ›

Despite facing a brutal marketing challenge, Funny People managed to top the box office this weekend. Though it was the lowest-performing champ of the summer, the Judd Apatow-helmed laugher brought in $23.4M to hold off a resilient Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($17.7M | $255.4M). The awful G-Force was a hair behind ($17M | $66.4M), followed by the awful The Ugly Truth ($13M | $54.4M) and the, uh, awful Aliens in the Attic ($7.8M). Orphan ($7.2M | $26.7M), Ice Age 3 ($5.3M | $181.8M), The Hangover ($5M | $255.7M), The Proposal ($4.8M | $148.8M) and Transformers 2 ($4.6M | $388.1M) rounded out the top 10. more ›

If you're planning to see one movie this weekend, you should re-jigger your schedule and see four! Funny People would be an excellent place to start. It's Rogen, Apatow and Sandler's best film to date (LAist review here). Sure, it's not a straight comedy, but it is damn funny. You'll leave the film in a good mood, but that will quickly turn into righteous anger once you've seen The Cove. The best movie at the Sundance Film Festival this year (LAist reviews here and here), it's a thrilling and sad documentary about the annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan. I mean seriously, how many eco-documentaries have scenes inside ILM? The Cove is that cool. More to the point, it almost feels like a narrative film with all the intrigue and plot that go into capturing the wrenching footage of dolphins being mercilessly pitchforked in the water by giggling fisherman. See it! more ›

Today NBC launched a 24-hour cable channel in New York called "New York Non-Stop", replete with expanded news coverage, on-location stories, and interactive elements. When can LA expect the same investment? more ›

One of my favorite films of 2007 arrives to DVD today, , rectify that mistake today by buying the new, juicier version. more ›

Cable networks continue to fire on all cylinders this last week. A new episode of Mad Men on AMC has revealed that everyone is flawed and that they're all potentially unredeemable. Last night's angel-stalked Holly Hunter (Saving Grace, TNT) has her thinking about cleaning up her act but despite being a tough girl, she's weak and human and falls back into old habits. Tonight we get to see just a glimpse of the Machiavellian... more ›

A review of the Fox Searchlight movie, Sunshine. The movie is directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, and stars Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Cliff Curtis, Michelle Yeoh, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rose Byrne, Benedict Wong, Troy Garity, and Mark Strong. more ›