Eric Reyers

I think many residents of this fine city have a love-hate relationship with it. For everyone person I hear say "I love Los Angeles," Three others chime in "this place is driving me nuts." I'm as guilty of this as anyone. I love the city but routinely bitch about the lack of snow or wide open spaces (C'mon, I'm from Minnesota. What is Christmas without a foot of snow to contend with? Over the...

The way I see it, documentaries succeed in one of two ways. The first: deal with a terrifying, real subject matter ("One Day in September", "Jesus Camp"). Express it in a matter-of-fact way that both frightens and informs the viewer. The second: Find a genre/subject that is so outlandish ("American Movie", "Spellbound") that all you need to do is turn on the camera and capture the unintentional hilarity. The hitch is, you need to...

In an era of comedic atrocities like "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" it is important to go to the source of film comedy for a refresher on the fundamentals of on-screen hilarity. Hands down, the best place to get a taste of where comedy came from is the Silent Movie Theater. With screenings featuring film greats like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton it is a wellspring for classic cinema. There is an inherent...

John Travolta, in a wig and fat-suit, tops the list as the most likely thing to draw people to the popcorn stadium this weekend. A decent sci-fi flick about restarting the sun and a sure-to-be-awful movie with all the gay-marriage jokes you can stomach are also on tap. Behold the blandness of the 3rd week of July. Hairspray - I'll take "Movie I won't be seeing" for $400, Alex. Really, this is a remake...

My inner 10-year-old just had an amazing time at "Transformers", while my 26-year-old self took a break from worrying about plot-holes and decent acting. All said, it was everything I wanted it to be. Give reality a break for 2 hours and go enjoy yourself. But if alien robots aren't your thing, there are a few other options opening Friday. Transformers - It isn't even the weekend and this movie has already brought in...

Viral marketing, when done right, can be an absolute blast. Case in point, a pre-Transformers preview for a new J.J. Abrams film, tentatively titled "Cloverfield". What starts out as an innocent, hand-held video of a going-away party quickly descends into front-row footage of the apocalypse, with people running through the streets of New York City dodging flying cars hurled by an unknown source... not to mention a closing shot that already has people talking...

A CG rat, a couple documentaries, John McClane and a Swiss genius...should make for an interesting weekend in the theaters. Be sure to also check LAist's LA Film Festival coverage for some other gems playing around town this weekend. Ratatouille - As far as I'm concerned, Pixar has yet to put out a bad film. Some of my friends argue that "Cars" was a glorified NASCAR commercial and "The Incredibles" lacked originality (just like...

There is a myth that Blues Legend Robert Johnson met the devil at a crossroads down south and traded his soul for ungodly skill with a guitar. A few dozen years later, the devil must have gotten fed up, took a trip to Mexico for some sun and margaritas and stumbled across Rodrigo Y Gabriela. That is the only way I can explain their other-worldly talent. Both members of the duo have such skill...

Get this, there's another sequel coming out today. You're surprised, I know, I was too. Alas, in a summer of recycled story lines, the comedy genre takes center stage today with "Evan Almighty. With "The Office" on hiatus, I'm itching for some Steve Carell. He arrives, riding an ark, in time for your weekend. Evan Almighty - It's the most expensive comedy ever (there are reports that Universal has been recruiting churches to try...

If ever there were a date to debut an expensive almost-sure-to-be-crap comic book sequel film, it would be June 15th. It's the summer, so kids are out of school and looking for a movie to waste their allowances on. It's PG enough that parents can take their youngest. And it's just hot enough in middle America and the South that anyone without an air conditioner will be looking for a dark theater to kill...