Josh Tate

Is it just me or is there a surprising lack of public excitement about the release of Extract? I mean, Mike Judge and Jason Bateman working together on a film? Either one of these guys pulls me into a theater, but both together-- that's nirvana. On the other hand, is anyone looking forward to Gamer? Gerard Butler is rapidly squandering the capital he earned back when he was just a working actor. If you don't...

Of the many things for which I am immensely grateful to my dad, maybe nothing has proven more significant than the love of movies he instilled in me at a very young age. My dad took me to see everything. And by that, I mean he took me to see movies as varied as Amadeus and Tomboy (NSFW) and Sophie's Choice and Blame It On Rio (NSFW). And, of course, he took me to see...

State of Play was a mostly riveting throwback to All the President's Men that starred Russell Crowe as a grizzled D.C. journalist caught in the middle of a hell of a lot of sex, intrigue and murder. Naturally, it was a financial disappointment. Help remedy that injustice by picking it up on DVD today. The big-budget, adult-oriented drama must be preserved! Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer can do no wrong in my book...

Millions of moronic teenagers pushed The Final Destination to the top of the weekend box-office chart as it snagged a richly undeserved $28.3M (largely due to the inflated price of tickets to the 3D showings). Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds managed to hold onto second place despite forecasts to the contrary ($20M | $73.8M). In a bit of good news, the worthless Halloween II came in below expectations ($17.4M). Surprise hit District 9 continued to perform...

My old friend Manny Progdon (née Danny Trogdon, aka Nina del Groodt) and I have a shorthand when it comes to discussing our opinion of any particular movie. A common answer to the question, "Did you like it?" is "Well, it was more interesting than good" or "I admired it more than I liked it." Had Manny | Danny | Nina asked what I thought of Orgies and the Meaning of Life, one of those...

Critics are split on Taking Woodstock, but anything from the amazing Ang Lee is worth seeing. He'll never get the credit of other major directors, but check out his filmography and find me someone else who's taken so many successful chances. Audiences will probably avoid The Baader Meinhof Complex (LAist review here) because it makes them uncomfortable (e.g. subtitles, anti-Americanism). What I said about Ang Lee above -- apply the same words to Jeff Bridges....

When I think of my favorite movies of the last twenty years, the most curious inclusion is probably Whit Stillman's The Last Days of Disco. Now that it's been given the Criterion treatment (it's been out of print on DVD for years), I can't recommend it highly enough. If only Stillman would actually write and direct another film (Disco was his last and that was eleven years ago!). I enjoyed Adventureland so much at Sundance...

Quentin Tarantino roared back into prominence as his World War Two revenge flick, Inglourious Basterds, uh, roared to the top of the weekend box office, earning a way-above expectations $37.2M. Last week's champ, District 9 had a reasonable hold and earned an additional $18.9M ($73.4M). After that it was the sort of okay G.I.Joe ($12.5M | $120.5M), the weepy Time Traveler's Wife ($10M | 37.4M) and the winning Julie & Julia ($9M | $59.2M). Kids...

There's already been a ton of Inglourious Basterds material on LAist this weekend, so I'll only say, "Check it out. It's a helluva ride." My One and Only looks like an intriguing film. Based in part on the life of George Hamilton, it tells the story of a determined woman looking for a wealthy man to provide a nice life for her and her sons. It's been awhile since there's been a film about The...

Though it first aired a decade ago, most people still remember Samm Levine quite clearly from the cult TV show, Freaks and Geeks (look back at the cast and writers and marvel at the talent). Since then he has worked steadily, both in television (the best episode of Entourage ever) and film (the hilarious and underrated Not Another Teen Movie.) This Friday, Samm appears as one of Brad Pitt's basterds in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds....