As expected, The Other Guys knocked off reigning champ Inception this weekend to top the box office race. The fourth collaboration between Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay tallied $35.6M to almost double the take of the dreamy thriller ($18.6M | $227.7M). The loss of the ultra-hot Brianna Evigan spelled doom for Step 3-D which earned a disappointing $15.5M. That was still enough to beat Salt ($11.1M | $91.9M) and the depressingly bad Dinner for Schmucks ($10.5M | $46.7M). more ›

What do you get when you put Adam McKay and Will Ferrell together? Hilarity. There was Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Step Brothers, the Funny or Die classic clip “The Landlord” and countless hours of sketches on “Saturday Night Live.” The list goes on, though you can now add two more items: their new movie The Other Guys and the following press conference they gave at Comic-Con 2010 to promote The Other Guys, in which you will learn nothing about the movie, but a lot about how these two work so well together. LAist was on hand to record the session. Cast members Eva Mendes and Mark Wahlberg joined McKay and Ferrell. more ›

I know Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are considered by most to be sort of old-hat by now, but I'm still excited to see The Other Guys. Obviously, Anchorman is a modern classic and Step Brothers is a daffy, surreal piece of brilliance. I don't expect as much from The Other Guys, but it should still be fun. I'm boycotting Step Up 3-D due to the absence of Brianna Evigan. Sorry, but Middle Men just looks boring. Luke Wilson's perfected disinterest works in a film like The Royal Tennenbaums, but here he just looks bored. more ›

Following its debut at the Telluride Film Festival, Up in the Air was being heralded as a strong contender for a Best Picture Oscar. The fact that it didn't win anything at last Sunday's ceremony should tell you it wasn't nearly as weighty and significant as early press indicated. Still, it was another solid film by Jason Reitman and another effortless turn by Clooney. more ›

The most distressing thing about the ten worst movies of the year wasn't even the movies themselves. True, they were all extremely depressing--especially the "comedies"--but nothing was more deflating than the immense amount of money that so many of them made. Their runaway success ensures that 2008 will have no shortage of Grade-A shit. Having said that, here are my ten worst. I can't believe I couldn't find room for . more ›

Oh, to have unlimited resources and $8,000 to blow. My perceptions of rock 'n' roll fantasy camps forever changed this morning when my eyes skimmed an e-mail touting the mother of all rock experiences. My skepticism led me to open the e-mail and I was genuinely shocked by the caliber of the special guests and "camp counselors," which include Brian Wilson, Nick Mason, Cliff Williams and more. The Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp will take place Feb. 15-18 at a recording studio in Los Angeles and will include an on-stage performance with Cliff Williams at the House of Blues. more ›

Despite early expectations that it would top $20 million in its opening weekend, when I was twelve! more ›

In yet another blow to the human race, Dwayne Johnson's The Game Plan was this weekend's box-office champ, taking in a richly undeserved 22.6 million dollars in its debut. You know what that means--an even worse sequel (assuming that's possible) is virtually certain to be made. Let's hope it goes straight to DVD and doesn't rob theater space from better, less life-affirming movies. In second place, also in its first weekend, was Peter Berg's... more ›

Though it opens Wednesday, I'm including in this guide because Wes Anderson is a director whose films you just automatically have to see and the more advance warning, the better. His latest jewel box follows three brothers (Wilson, Brody, Schwartzman) who decide to travel together across India in an effort to mend the rift that has grown between them all. Expect fantastical plot twists and plenty of whimsy. more ›

A couple more days of this visual and mental assault. I've discovered that drinking really helps though. 7:30pm Where Eagles Dare TCM - Here's your chance to bypass most of the new and quite possibly very mediocre offerings this evening by watching this classic. Richard Burton is wooden and robotic in this good guys vs. the Nazis flick, Clint Eastwood is fantastic and there's lots of cool explosions and Nazis getting shot and stuff. 8:00pm... more ›

AMERICAN MUSIC an acoustic punk documentary more ›

There may be no American musician more ripe for the documentary treatment than Roky Erickson. There’s the tale of great promise in 1966 as the 13th Floor Elevators invent psychedelic rock and gain a reputation as the most other-worldly group alive. There’s a long period of reinvention as he continues to produce great stuff – cryptic and haunted though it is - into the 1980s. There’s a backstory of madness and decline. There’s even a... more ›

Sonic Youth @ Urban Outfitters - Santa Monica Daft Punk, Ratatat @ LA Sports Arena The Rentals, Goldenboy @ Spaceland Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons @ Kodak The Dwarves, The Dickies @ Galaxy Theatre Veruca Salt, The Flys @ Key Club Erasure @ Grove of Anaheim Theo & the Skyscrapers @ The Echo Rasputina, My Brightest Diamond @ The El Rey Nervous Gender @ The Cocaine Black Kites, The Transmissions, The Switch @... more ›

Dinosaur Jr., Awesome Color @ The Troubadour The Germs @ Galaxy Theatre Peter Case, Grant-Lee Phillips @ Largo Al Kooper @ McCabe's Don McLean @ The Canyon mere mortals @ Market Gallery The Fuxedos @ The Echo Atomic Punks, Lure, Demize, Flake @ Whisky A Gogo Los Infernos, Charley Horse, Hellbound Hayride @ Safari Sam's The Rock & Roll Adventure Kids, Les Hormones, The Lateenos @ Mr. T's Bowl Horse the Band, Black Pyramids,... more ›

- Mayor Tony says the fire is under control, it burned 800 acres - NYT more ›

Okay, no; we don't have a dumb knock-knock joke here. And you're welcome. We do have a little beef, however. We'd really like to know why nobody's done a documentary about Frontier Records founder Lisa Fancher. We just looked through this year's film schedule for Allison Anders' fantastic Don't Knock The Rock festival, and while we have absolutely no problem whatsoever with the lineup, it seems like every other seminal LA punk figure has been made the focus of a filmmaker's lens. What gives? more ›

There are plenty of ways to scare yourself silly this weekend in LA. If you're
too old or wary for trick-or-treating, then why not head to the local cineplex?
Here are five movies playing around town that range from frightening to fun.

• Doom - The Rock returns in this sci-fi/horror flick set in a futuristic Mars research facility. Predictably, the facility loses communication and is quarantined. The Marines discover the source of the trouble: the researchers opened a portal to hell. Rock and company battle with a slew of otherworldly demons and denizens. [ trailer | local showtimes ]
• Saw II - The sadistic serial killer "Jigsaw" is back. This time he makes eight victims play a sort of "reality" game to see who, if anyone, survives. The tagline is "oh yes, there will be blood." Consider yourselves warned. Surprisingly, squeaky-clean Beverly Mitchell makes an appearance in this flick, along with Tobin Bell, Franky G and Shawnee Smith. [ trailer | local showtimes ]
• The Fog - Tom Welling, Maggie Grace and Selma Blair star in a remake of John Carpenter's classic movie. Century-old ghosts roll in with a creepy layer of fog, wreaking havoc on the local Northern California town. [ trailer | local showtimes ]

more ›