Josh Tate

Still not quite sure why so many branded Funny People an unmitigated disaster. Sure, it wasn't as big of a box-office performer as your standard Apatow or Sandler joint, but it was hardly a huge bomb ($51M). Plus, the reviews were fairly solid across the board (68% positive on RT). Something tells me that this is a film that people will find on DVD and VOD, and it will eventually become a basic-cable classic. It's...

In a stunning debut, New Moon blew away expectations by raking in a huge $140.7M to easily win the weekend. Do teenage girls ever flock to good movies? (Incidentally -- for those unfamiliar with the books -- the next films will feature Bella nearly being fucked to death and Jacob falling in love with a baby. Seriously.) Sports pic The Blind Side also topped early estimates, bringing in a robust $34.5M to place a strong...

Is it just me or do the weird, little Mormon books by Stephanie Meyer not exactly qualify as a "saga"? And why does no one discuss the awful examples of social behavior (e.g. how awesome it is to date violent, distant men) that the books promote? Nevertheless, here comes Twilight Saga: New Moon. It will make close to a hundred million dollars this weekend, and in a few years people will barely remember it. I'm...

On many Tuesdays, the pickings are slim among the new crop of DVDs. And then there are days like today where the bounty is almost too rich. Where better to start than with JJ Abrams' re-start of the Star Trek franchise. Did anyone not like this movie? You know, except for those people who automatically don't like things because they're popular. In other news, there may not have been a funnier movie this year than...

In a surprisingly robust debut, 2012 took in a huge $65M to easily capture the weekend box-office crown. Despite completely sucking, the latest Roland Emmerich disaster pic easily out-distanced last week's champ, Disney's A Christmas Carol which managed to bring in a decent $22.3M in its second frame ($63.2M). Grant Heslov's hilarious The Men Who Stare at Goats grabbed third place ($6.2M | $23.3M), just ahead of indie powerhouse Precious: Based on the Novel "Push"...

Some critics have derided Wes Anderson as a victim of his own precious taste. His movies take place in "Andersonville" it's said -- a singular, specific world from which he needs to free himself. To that I say, "Pah!". Anderson's latest film, Fantastic Mr. Fox, takes place in the stop-motion animated version of Andersonville and it's, well, fantastic. I can't recommend it highly enough. I can't say the same for 2012. I mean, honestly, how...

I'm still not sure why Watchmen was pilloried by so many. Considering how many adaptations are butchered by filmmakers, it was refreshing to see how closely Zack Snyder adhered to the source material by Alan Moore (except for, of course, the ending). Sure it may have been a little obtuse for people unfamiliar with the graphic novel, but so what, right? Anyway, today's DVD release is a treasure trove for Watchmen fans. For less than...

While Disney's A Christmas Carol won the weekend with an underwhelming $31M, the real story at the box-office was Precious. The darling of this year's Sundance Film Festival earned an astonishing $100,000 per theater, breaking the record for the largest opening EVER for a specialty film (A Christmas Carol, by contrast, earned a little over $8400 per venue). Michael Jackson's This Is It had a solid second weekend ($14M | $57.8M), just topping the fantastic...

If you like movies filled with whimsical, daffy humor (think Wes or Spike or Charlie) then you will probably dig The Men Who Stare at Goats as much as I did. It concerns our military's experimentation with paranormal phenomena as epitomized by the Jedi Warriors of the First Earth Battalion stationed at Fort Bragg, NC (yep!). Best of all, most of it is true. I like that Bob Zemekis is always pushing the boundaries of...

Back in June I wrote, "Movies open every week in Los Angeles, and LAist always tries to let you know about as many of them as possible. Some films, though -- at least I think so -- deserve a special mention because a) they don't have a huge marketing budget supporting them; b) they are the kinds of provocative films that more people should see and c) they are the kinds of films that the...