Josh Tate

LAist has already seen the excellent Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and this weekend the rest of Los Angeles will likely follow suit. One small quibble, though: how do you leave out the [ ] of [ ]? It would have been one of the most powerful scenes in the entire series. That said, the realization of the pathetic Horace Slughorn is fantastic; the scene in the cave is top-notch; and the Quidditch play...

You wouldn't bleed so much if you stopped clawing the walls, dear. | Photo courtesy of Lionsgate A Haunting in Connecticut gets props for casting the radiant Virginia Madsen (and bad-ass Elias Koteas), but significant demerits for wussying out with a PG-13 rating. Once again -- all horror movies should be rated R! Just like in the good old days! As perhaps the world's biggest (and only) Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller fan, I...

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).

While I think that the cruelly funny Bruno will suffer a precipitous decline in its box-office fortunes once people realize it isn't another Borat, enough unsuspecting Americans bought tickets to the cock-heavy mockumentary this weekend to give it a narrow triumph ($30.4M) over Ice Age 3: More Ice Age ($28.5M | $120.5M). The vile Transformers 2: Racist CGI Moron Porn finished a close third ($24.2M | $339.2M), well ahead of a not-quite-there Public Enemies ($14.1M...

While reviews have been strong for Bruno, a few outliers have raised objections to the very narrow range the film straddles between exposing homophobia and promoting it. On the old Da Ali G Show, I never thought Bruno was as strong a character as Borat, but I expect to laugh for a solid 90 minutes at the sheer verve of Sacha Baron Cohen. The cute Hayden Panettiere from the first season of Heroes is quickly...

Now that's how I like my soulless and bloodthirsty Nazis -- sexy! | Photo courtesy of astrobri via flickr We featured The Day The Earth Stood Still when it ran back in May, but this week the Aero cements director Robert Wise's genius by replaying that sci-fi classic, alongside timeless musicals West Side Story & The Sound of Music. West Side Story and Star! (his post-Music reunion with Julie Andrews) are even presented in...

Nicolas Cage retains his title as the Enigma with this week's release of Knowing. I know I'm repeating myself, but has there been an actor in recent history who's made more mystifying choices? Rarely is an actor either brilliant or awful. Cage is always EXACTLY that. I first noticed Odette Yustman in a tiny cameo in Walk Hard. Yeah, she jumps off the screen like that. Too bad The Unborn is rote horror bilge. You...

Wow! How bad of a release day is it when 12 Rounds and Jonas Brothers: The Concert Experience are the two high-profile releases? Ugh. For the first time in I don't know how long, I couldn't find 20 DVDs worthy of inclusion in this space. Two Lovers is probably the best pick, but it suffers from a surfeit of Gwyneth Paltrow. Maybe the most intriguing DVD out today is Transmorphers: Fall of Man. I'm sure...

Wow! These plastic toys can move in the movie house! | Photo courtesy of mverde via flickr To no one's surprise -- and to the great embarrassment of all Americans with a still-attached brain stem -- Transformers: Revenge of the Racist Robots That Suck Beyond Belief clobbered more deserving films at the box-office this weekend to the tune of $112M ($201.2M). Last week's champ -- the, in retrospect, ceaselessly brilliant -- The Proposal raked...

Photo courtesy of Susan NYC via Flickr If you know who Justin Rice is, you probably know him as the lead singer of Bishop Allen or his appearance in Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. Very quietly, though -- working mostly with friends -- he's put together an interesting film career. I had the great pleasure of not only seeing Harmony & Me a few days ago at the LA Film Festival (review here), but...