In other news, a desperate NBC has ordered a pilot of the BBC's cars & celebs series, Top Gear. The show has been running on BBC America for a couple years now, I've seen a few episodes, notably one with Ewan McGregor. The show may be amusing depending upon which celebrities they line up, but it's no American Idol. Again, instead of coming up with something original, we're forced to watch rebranded concepts from overseas.......

Hey check it, yours truly was invited to contribute some commentary to this ABCNEWS.com article (I'm on page 2). Thanks for your support! So the Golden Globes got canceled and now maybe the Academy Awards will get canceled and this is conflicting me. On the one hand I will have a whole bunch more free time (hours upon hours) to watch my Tivo'd episodes of Grape Ape but I will have so much less lousy......

Though his recent output has been sparse and not particularly memorable, there can be no argument that Francis Ford Coppola has left one of the larger imprints on the history of film. This is a man who once directed, consecutively--consecutively--The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather: Part II and Apocalypse Now. Tonight, he'll be at the 7:40 screening of his latest, Youth Without Youth at the Landmark Theater at Pico and Westwood. Incidentally, if you......

A sad week for LAist as they lose their trusted and amazing editor Tony Pierce to the LA Times, but what a blast his last week was. He shared his 25 Favorite CDs of 2007 and wrote a great review of just a good movie, No Country For Old Men. At UCLA, thousands of students celebrated the end of their quarter by running around campus in their undies (lots of photos in a two-part......

"Welcome to My Home." Written, directed, produced, and starring Brenda Dickson. Part I... ...and Part II. Last Autumn I ate so much Halloween candy, Thanksgiving Tofurkey, and Happy Birthday Jesus grocery store sheet cake that I gained five pounds in two months. This year I'm determined not to let that happen again, so I have decided to start a preemptive diet and exercise plan right now before the holiday fattening season is in full......

There were probably worse movies released this year than Mr. Brooks (see Norbit, The Game Plan). However, Mr. Brooks was undeniably the most absurd. Everyone plays against type--to hilarious results. This is definitely a must-rental, but only if you plan to get really stoned. The final episodes of The Sopranos are finally available. What really happened to Tony during the much-hyped finale? I think it was all a dream inside an autistic boy's head.......

After a week without a sequel, we're back at it with the lovable scoundrels of "Ocean's 13". Sure, watching the same group of guys we've seen plunder Vegas and steal a Faberge egg plan another elaborate heist is rehashing already trodden ground, but I'll be damned if it isn't a good time. Add to that a torture-porn and another insufferable CG toon about penguins and we're in for an interesting weekend. Ocean's 13 -......

- Fares will be raised in July, but where does that leave new rail plans? - Downtown's Broadway as a Transit Mall. Let's do it. - The 405 sucks and will always suck. - No more fatty cops for the LAPD. - Taserfest, Part II: Simi Valley - Federal officials shut down Southern California's airspace for 48 minutes yesterday. - Teens who caused Hollywood Hills in March did not get charged. - Carl's Jr.......

Here’s the thing: this book isn’t even out yet. But because we live in Los Angeles, and this book is about Los Angeles, you’re in luck. We’re all in luck. Denise Hamilton and the bevy of supremely talented noir writers that contributed stories to this book are signing all over town this week. And the book will be, yes, you guessed it – available for signing at the readings two weeks before the rest of......

About a hour ago, the LACityNerd posted "we're typing live from the SavingLA conference." The anonymous city blogger is out on the streets, possibly sitting next to you. We see it as a risk, but maybe red herrings are thrown in. We're suspecting that the nerd is Ken Bernstein, Director of the Office of Historic Preservation. Bernstein also happens to be speaking at today's event. "Ken's presentation is quite informative and worth staying past the......

Here's the second entry in our special pre-Valentine's Day series of PDLs (Public Displays of Lovelessness). Once again, I'm not sure if this is viral marketing (after the faux Toronto bridezilla, I trust no one), but this was spotted on Glendale Blvd. in the Silverlake area.......

There's all this excitement about the building a new Universal City. Condos, jobs, economy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's all good stuff. But there's the logistical part, and that's transportation. Pedestrian Friendly? Check Red Line Subway? Check. Rapid 750 Bus Line? Check. 101/134/170? Check. Nearby Airport? Check. Bicycle Path? Uhhhhh... Did we forget something yesterday? Yes, we did. The LA River runs right along the property, yet there was no mention of the LA River Trail.......

First of all, LAist apologizes for not getting our election story in–we were out at various election night parties to all hours and didn’t have time to write anything. The obvious story to write about is the rematch: Hahn vs. Villaraigosa, Part II. But we’ll be able to talk about that for the next ten weeks. For now, the most interesting question for the City’s political insiders is where Hertzberg went wrong on his......