Look at this photo for two hours and you start to get the idea. Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. People must think it’s really hard to lead a cult. Navigating those large crowds into giving you their money, spending sleepless nights convincing the weak-minded to do your most obscure bidding, only to have them all kill themselves at a moment’s notice. Actually, most of that does sound pretty hard; except the suicide bit. Here’s the......

Deathbowl To Downtown. Photo courtesy of ncpfilms. Los Angeles, as a culture, lives by it’s own standards and plays by as many (or as few) rules as money can buy. But with that is the tacit understanding that, on many occasions, it will also die by it’s own shortcomings. As a result, Southern California is and will be the birthplace of many things, but those things will often leave their home to experience greater......

Maybe a learnt lesson from when SiCKO was leaked on Google Video last year, Michael Moore is giving away free downloads of his latest documentary Slacker Uprising, his get out the younger person vote flick. Is there a catch? Kinda. "This is being done entirely as a gift to my fans," Moore writes on his website for the movie. "The only return any of us are hoping for is the largest turnout of young......

If you haven't read LA Times columnist Steve Lopez' book, The Soloist, it comes with a high recommendation. And if you're a fan of reading books before the movie version comes out, then you've got to November 21st. Robert Downey Jr. plays Steve Lopez and Jamie Foxx plays Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, the street musician Lopez discovered in Pershing Square before writing a series of amazing columns that led to the book. Related: LA Times'......

Everybody wants to be the first to do something spectacular; it's all wrapped up in glory and vanity and ego. Sort of like every thirteen year old you see. And, to be fair, the main character in Man On Wire (Philippe Petit) is much the same way. His burning desire, overactive hormones, and lanky body would quickly carry him to heights never before walked by man. As a documentary, Man on Wire is really......

Photo by woolloomooloo via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr SOAK UP THE CULTURES OF AFRICA The Annual African Marketplace and Cultural Faire continues this weekend in full force. Get to the Rancho Cienega Park between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. today and tomorrow to see the sights and sounds of African culture from many nations through music, dance, art, food, and craft. There's a lot to check out, so you might want to......

Photo by Kevin Estrada/Used with permission Richard Meltzer, reviewing the Germs’ G.I. album for the LA Times in 1979, declared the band heirs apparent to the Doors. So perhaps there’s poetic justice in the way the two bands’ late-period careers mirror each other almost exactly; their lives have both been reenacted in Hollywood movies, and they’ve both returned to the concert stage with a celebrity ringer in place of a defining, iconic, dead lead......

A couple weeks ago, Gary Wilson , the subject of the documentary “You Think You Really Know Me – The Gary Wilson Story” performed songs from his obscure masterpiece album “You Think You Really Know Me” after the screening of the film. In 1977, Gary Wilson recorded his brilliantly bizarre debut album in the basement of his parents’ house in Endicott, New York. Then, Wilson disappeared. Fans of his music were unable to locate him.......

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is the brainchild of Joss Whedon, who has enlisted his friends Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillon, and Felicia Day to create a musical in which Dr. Horrible (Harris) blogs about his daily routine, reading fan letters, and of his attempts to join the Evil League of Evil. Captain Hammer (Fillon) is his nemesis and Felicia Day (a Buffy alum) is his love interest that he never talks to. Part 1......

Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily is reporting that Batman anticipation has lucrative effects. "MovieTickets.com says that, four days prior to its release, Warner Bros' Batman: The Dark Knight has sold out 700 performances in North America and is outselling 3 of MovieTickets.com’s Top 10 Performing Films of All-Time." That's 90% sold-out. Are you ready for 152-minutes of glory?......

In 1999, director Jon Reiss brought the electronic/rave scene to audiences with the documentary feature Better Living Through Circuitry. Reiss now returns with another kinetic documentary, this time exploring the controversial art of graffiti in Bomb It. Shot with vivid colors and set to an energetic soundtrack, the film investigates the history of graffiti while profiling artists all over the globe. Featuring old school legends and current favorites such as Taki 183, Cornbread, Stay......

Four years after the last episode of HBO's Sex and the City, the new movie felt like a long time coming for its many fans. So it was understandable that at the 21+ screening party in the ArcLight Sherman Oaks, the legions of women who showed up to celebrate the film were dressed to the nines. They sported flirty frocks and their best party heels in homage to The Girls: Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha.......

The Pacific Beach Cities Stadium 16 movie theatre in El Segundo was the real-life scene of a police-involved shootout last night. Two officers were wounded and the suspect was killed outside the theatres after they arrived on scene to "escort [him] out and he opened fire," reports the LA Times. Following the shooting, fellow police officers "searched in and around the theater for companions of the gunman and took two men into custody at a......

If you've lived in the greater Los Angeles area for any length of time, you know Adam Carolla. You may know him as the longtime partner of Dr. Drew Pinsky (read the LAist interview with him) on the popular late night call-in radio show Loveline; or perhaps you've heard The Adam Carolla Show on KLSX 97.1 in the morning on your way to work. Comedy Central viewers will know him from The Man Show, Crank......

Josh Brolin is the heart and soul of No Country for Old Men | Photo courtesy of Paramount Vantage Though its elliptical ending caused a bit of a backlash, I can't imagine any serious film fan not enjoying the hell out of No Country for Old Men. It doesn't quite rise to the level of the Coen's one perfect film, Miller's Crossing, but it's full of violent beauty. Incidentally, if you don't think the......

$3.55 for unleaded. Check, albeit annoying. $3.79 for performance plus. Ugh, okay, check. $9.38 a gallon for high performance. Che-- wha???!?!?!!!? LAist Featured Photos photographer Movie Lover snapped this shot on the Westside. "While driving past a gas station in Brentwood, CA a while back, I noticed that the price had gone up. Way up." Yeah, no doubt. Let's see, April Fool's Day is next month. It's not a six upside down. This doesn't look......

Can you re-imagine the LA Riverfront? Then checkout tonight's lecture at SCI-Arc. / Photo by Lush.i.ous via LAist's flickr pool. FILM* A classic Japanese double feature plays at the New Beverly tonight and tomorrow. While these films were made more than 50 years ago, the themes are timeless: Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952) focuses on a housewife who’s sick and tired of her boring life with her business-minded husband as her niece......

If, like me, you were such a huge fan of Muppets and costumed creatures growing up that you're practically anti-CGI, you should head over to the Silent Movie Theater on March 18th for "Jim Henson's Commercials & Experiments"! The screening starts at 8pm and will feature rare clips, shorts and commercials from Jim Henson's studio archives, including experimental animation and "a 35mm print of Time Piece, an Academy Award nominated 8-minute masterpiece that showcases Henson’s......

HISTORY It's happening right now until 4 p.m. today, so check out some of the over 200 Los Angeles area focused historical organizations over at Heritage Sqaure (right off the Gold Line). More info at an earlier LAist post. 12-4:00 p.m. // Heritage Square // 3800 Homer Street, LA, California 90031 // $10 FILM Walk Cheerfully screens tonight in the Cinefamily Asian Sunday series. Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, the 1930 film blends multiple genres and......

Zombie Joe's Underground takes on "The Raven" and other Poe stories tonight. / Photo by Ctd 2005 via flickr. FILM The Silent Movie Theatre concludes its “Love Hurts” series with the noir-ish tearjerker Brief Enounter. Directed by David Lean, Brief Encounter deals with an illicit affair between a housewife and a married doctor. A train station serves as a prominent backdrop for their weekly trysts. 8 pm // Silent Movie Theatre // 611 N.......

Drinks with Digital LA tonight at Bodega Bar in Santa Monica (and yes, this is not the Bodega bar) / Photo by C-Monster via LAist's photo pool. FILM I am so scaaared. Writer/director Eli Roth (Hostel) continues his reign at the New Beverly in “The Greats of Roth” series. Tonight, he’s screening the double-feature of The Blair Witch Project (1999) and Cannibal Holocaust (1980), an earlier film that deals with a missing documentary film......

In Orange County, CA, a nearly empty theater Sunday night became a crime scene when two men watching the Sundance raved-about gruesome horror movie, The Signal, got stabbed by another man who fled through the back doors. ...

Part of an ongoing series. Last Sunday, local electronic pop duo Electrocute (MySpace), perhaps best known for their song "Bikini Bottom" on the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie soundtrack, concluded their February residency at Spaceland (MySpace) in Silver Lake. The lineup included Totally Radd!! (MySpace) and Har Mar Superstar (MySpace). This month, the artists who've shared their stage include Punk Bunny (MySpace), ARP (MySpace), Laco$te (MySpace), The Lady Tigra (MySpace), and B.R.A.M (MySpace). Tonight, Electrocute performs......

Is this the best seat in the house? | Photo by neonspecs via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr TV: WATCH THE OSCARS LAist's own TV Junkie has already given us the deets (and some alternatives), but in case you missed it, the 80th Annual Academy Awards are tonight, live from our very own Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Settle into your favorite spot in front of your tee vee and tune in along......

Part of an ongoing series. Three weeks ago, The Airborne Toxic Event (MySpace) concluded their January residency at Spaceland (MySpace) in Silver Lake with a show that included The Deadly Syndrome (MySpace) and Castledoor (MySpace). It was a chance to see all three of Kevin Bronson's bands to watch on the same stage in a single night. So many people (including Kiefer Sutherland, who had recently completed his DUI prison sentence) descended to Spaceland......

Sony's Blu-ray high definition video disc won a contentious, expensive, and possibly over-hyped video format war reminiscent of the VHS v. Beta battles of yore. The "battle" for dominance of the next-generation DVD market was determined over past few weeks as major studios and big box retailers sided with Sony's Blu-ray, essentially shutting Toshiba's HD-DVD format out of the market. But who really wins here? The studios and retailers manage to force consumers to go......

Life doesn't stop in LA because it's raining. / Photo by kristi.nicole via LAist's flickr pool FILM The American Cinematheque’s Outfest Wednesdays continue at the Egyptian. On the big screen tonight is With You! -- director Yaniv Dabach’s documentary on the formation of New York City’s first gay rugby club, the Gotham Knights. A discussion with Dabach follows the screening – plus there’s a reception hosted by Absolut. 7:30 pm // American Cinematheque at......

FILM* Charlie Chaplin's legendary Modern Times is on the big screen this afternoon at the Silent Movie Theatre. The film "marks the final screen appearance of his beloved and iconic Tramp. It’s also one of Chaplin’s most thematically and stylistically audacious films." 4:00 p.m. // The Silent Movie Theatre // 611 N Fairfax Ave // $12 WIN AN OSCAR! Oh, okay, fine, you probably aren't nominated for one this year (don't worry, your time will......

At the Movie Guide Awards last week, I had the chance to quiz Buzz Aldrin on a number of topics, including his statement that he saw a panel fly off of the spacecraft. I asked him if he gets tired of people asking him about the moon landing, or if he gets annoyed by people repeating Armstrong's famous phrase, "The Eagle has landed." I guess I assumed people shout that at him from cars,......

That's Chanell, from Riverside County, who graciously let us photograph her tattoo last night at the Beverly Hilton. Causing the most commotion on the red carpet was Eduardo Verastequi, the star of "Bella," who would shortly walk off with The Grace Award for Most Inspirational Movie Acting in 2007. A small group of women in front of me swooned and reached for their cameras, grabbing him before he even made it on to the carpet......