If ever a movie didn't cry out for a re-make it was Clash of the Titans. The original wasn't necessarily good, but it was beloved by a distinct sliver of the populace. They will now hate this re-make, while those new to it will think the movie is just stupid. Which it is. A last-minute 3-D conversion only adds to its mediocrity. At least, it's not the worst movie of the weekend. That is surely The Last Song. Miley Cyrus is, of course, grotesque in everything. My question is this -- what's a solid actor like Greg Kinnear doing in this shit? more ›

Jeff Bridges will probably end up winning an Oscar for his role in Crazy Heart, but if he doesn't you can bank on Jeremy Renner taking home the statue for his performance in The Hurt Locker. In a just world, Peter Capaldi would be doing the same thing for his brilliant turn as Malcolm "Prince of Fucking Darkness" Tucker in In the Loop. The fact that he probably won't even be nominated is insane. Similarly, Sam Rockwell will likely be ignored for his (inter) stellar work in Moon. Hard to believe that The Simpsons has been on the air for twenty years. Even harder to believe when you consider that it hasn't been consistently funny in over a decade. The Brothers Bloom is exactly the kind of small, quirky film you should find on DVD. It came and went in the theaters, but features great work by Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody (LAist interview here). more ›

Tyler Perry's latest mediocrity I Can Do Bad All By Myself demolished the competition this weekend, debuting to $24M to top the box-office charts. The visually delightful (but narratively generic) 9 came in a distant second, taking in only $10.8M in its opening frame. Inglourious Basterds is proving to be a much-needed and resilient winner for Quentin Tarantino and the Weinstein Company ($6.5M | $104.3M), while the renaissance of Sandra Bullock continues with All About Steve ($5.8M | $21.8M). more ›

Wow! Crowded weekend, huh? I'd say 9 has to be at the top of any list if only for its sumptuous animation. Tyler Perry continues to crank out middling material, though Taraji Henson is almost enough to pull me into I Can Do Bad All by Myself. I've railed against bad horror re-makes so I feel obligated to rail against Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, too. It has a decent pedigree (Peter Hyams directing, Michael Douglas starring), but stop recycling old ideas, Hollywood! Sorority Row may (will) suck but at least it has the stones to go for an R rating and let its gore/nudity flag fly. Whiteout is the new Dominic Sena movie. If you know anything about his earlier work, you'll know to stay away (actually Gone in 60 Seconds was good, dumb fun featuring vintage Cage). more ›

If you've got under a hundred dollars in your bank account, a date at the movies is usually out of the question. You stare longingly at LAist's film calendar every week: the Arclight's obviously a fortune, but even AMCs & revival houses run $15-$20 for two tickets. Add popcorn & soda? Ugh. This is news to no one, but if you're in the South Bay? WOW! The Warner Grand Theatre is looking out for you! Even if you're not - it's probably still cheaper to drive to San Pedro, plunk down a Hamilton and enjoy 2 tickets, 2 sodas & 2 popcorns (single tickets are a whopping $3 - cheaper than a DVD rental). more ›

I understand every criticism of Family Guy, but I still tune in regularly to watch Peter, Cleveland and Quagmire do the same jokes time after time after time. It just makes me laugh. While Friday the 13th may have sucked completely, at least it didn't wuss out and go for a PG-13. Here's to gore and nudity! With the next Transformers film looming, what better time to piggyback a cartoon compilation and get some free marketing buzz? Why can't Tyler Perry use his prodigious business talents for something other than making crappy movies? Why, Jesus? Why? Why? How have I never seen What's Up, Tiger Lily?? Soon to be corrected. more ›

The TV Junkie Plan: "Better Off Ted", "Lost" (maybe), "MythBusters" (if not "Lost"), "South Park", "Reno 911!", Letterman, Fallon. more ›

The TV Junkie Plan: "Better Off Ted", "Lost", "South Park", "Reno 911!", Leno, Fallon more ›

Critics are being rather forgiving of Jimmy Fallon's (only slightly shaky IMHO) "Late Night" debut: they brought out DeNiro who is always a tough interview and Fallon kind of made it work, and Timberlake kind of saved the first show - not sure why they had Van Morrison on, are they trying to reclaim the age 55-and-up demographic? more ›

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While watching the Oscars at home in my bedroom, I got an email informing me that I was invited to Prince's Post-Oscar party. Me? The guy who was sitting in his room watching the Oscars in a sweaty t-shirt and shorts thanks to some much needed time at the gym was now going to be partying with Prince at his ultra-exclusive post-Oscar party. more ›

On Saturday night -- following yet another brilliant concert by Lisa Hannigan at the Troubadour -- my friends and I headed over to Pink's for a late-night "Mulholland Drive" dog. We ended up speaking to a couple from Covina who had just attended a screening of Madea Goes to Jail. That couple is now dead, as should all of those be who made the awful Madea this week's box office champ ($41.1M). The thrilling Taken was a very distant second ($11.4M/$95.1M) just ahead of the surging and splendid Coraline ($11M/$53.3M). more ›

It's a sad weekend for movie-goers across the country when it's a slam-dunk certainty that Madea Goes to Jail is going to easily top the box-office. I admire Tyler Perry's business acumen, but he is truly an awful filmmaker. Then again, is Madea really any worse than Fired Up!? The only way you could get me to see this flick is if it was rated XXX. If you are a fan of Project Runway (which I'm not) then Eleven Minutes is probably required viewing. Chain Link is a hard-core indie flick (one guy writes, directs, edits and produces) so support it if that's you're thing. Delhi-6 looks like it's trying the ride the coattails of Slumdog Millionaire. Good luck! more ›

Last week we went to a sneak preview of Demetri Martin's new show on Comedy Central, "Important Things With Demetri Martin", which premiere's tonight at 10:30pm. The show has been in the works since last Spring so we are happy to see it make it on air. more ›

I'm a huge fan of the revisionist Western movement currently threading its way through our culture, but didn't Deadwood do it so well that everything else feels tired (fine films like Appaloosa included)? Conversely, can anyone name a good Kevin Costner film in the last decade? And you can't say The Upside of Anger because he was just a co-star! Humboldt County is all about weed and freedom so this column approves purely on principle (review coming up very soon!). Two Tyler Perry movies in one week?! Who did I piss off? more ›

Tyler Perry, the man who Hollywood ignored for years before his sold-out plays were translated into the very successful series' "House of Payne" and "Meet the Browns", opened his own 30 acre studios in Atlanta this weekend. Just wait for Mike Birbiglia to do the same thing. more ›

While many fans of Wong Kar-wai were disappointed by . If only his artistic instincts were as sharp as his pecuniary ones. more ›

With a huge release hitting theaters virtually every Friday, it's rare that a movie tops the box office over successive weekends and yet that's exactly what being the other). Has Judd's stardust finally turned into potato flakes? more ›

I've been a devoted fan of Adam Carolla since his early days on but funny). All it's missing is a Carolla beat-down of the dreadful, show-wrecking Danny Bonaduce. Bring back Dave Dameshek! more ›

[The Junkie's been sick for a few days but we're back] LAist has some great coverage of the Project Runway finale tonight on BRAVO @ 10:00pm so I'm not even going to touch that. If you can't stand the fashion tension, you can always switch over to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors Meeting broadcast on KLCS and your tension will be released utterly. more ›

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 was released? Greatest poster ever? more ›

Relatively speechless tonight because there's so little on TV and yesterday was pretty lame as well. The final schmaltzy segment of Tin Man aired to much disappointment, and Nip/Tuck started out great but fizzled about halfway through the episode. Tonight though, Tyler Perry actually returns to the show he created and that's a big deal so check TBS at 9:00pm. [Please note how I'm specifically not mentioning the Julia Roberts special on AMC as she... more ›

So, yeah, Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and Superbad are the big releases this weekend. Honestly, I liked both movies well enough, but neither deserves the #1 slot in the weekly rundown like Battlestar Galactica: Razor does. Since new episodes of the best show on television won't air until March 2008, we'll have to make do with this 2-hour movie that follows the adventures of the Pegasus after the treacherous Cylon attack against the... more ›

To no one's surprise, . more ›

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... more ›

In a shocking upset, Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married easily topped the box-office with a much higher than expected $21.5 million haul. Ordinarily, I'm on the side of the underdog, but Perry's movies are so aggresively mediocre that I'm not looking forward to the glut of his product that is now certain to follow. Then again, Why Did I Get Married is hardly worse than The Game Plan which finished second in... more ›

Academy Award Nominated Short Films - A compendium of this year's live action and animation shorts. Breach - Based on the true story of Robert Hanssen who spent 15 years spying for the Soviet Union, a breach that is one of the worst intelligence disasters in US history. Chris Cooper plays Hanssen and Ryan Philippe plays the newbie agent sent to keep on an eye on him in this cat-and-mouse drama. The Boy Who Cried... more ›

Crap - I have no time to get snarky with you today. more ›