L.A. Times - Movie News

Review: 'I Love You, Beth Cooper'

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The teen movie is a rehash of many others as a nerd pursues an out-of-his-league cheerleader.

"I Love You, Beth Cooper" is not a remake -- it just feels like one. A flat, tired rehash of teen movie story tropes, the film attempts to have it both ways by winkingly acknowledging its secondhand origins. The distance from shameless rip-off to loving homage may not be far, but it is a chasm this film fails to jump.

Review: 'An Unlikely Weapon'

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

In Vietnam and elsewhere, Eddie Adams' weapon of choice was a camera. His life and his work, including the famous image 'Saigon Execution,' are recounted in the new documentary.

Eddie Adams made me weep long before I knew his name.

Review: 'Blood: The Last Vampire'

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Also reviewed: 'Weather Girl'

What we have here is a failure to communicate.

Review: 'Herb & Dorothy'

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

An ordinary couple with an extraordinary art collection.

If Ripley's Believe It or Not! were still around, Herb and Dorothy Vogel would surely be in it for amassing a world-class art collection on the most ordinary of working-class salaries. "They are one of the biggest collectors of new art in New York City," says artist Lucio Pozzi, "and you would never believe it."

'Brüno' has designs on strong $30-million-plus debut

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 18:38:19 -0700

'Soul Power'

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The documentary focuses on the music festival 'Zaire 74' that was organized to go along with the Ali-Foreman 'Rumble in the Jungle.'

Most everyone remembers "The Rumble in the Jungle," the 1974 heavyweight championship fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire, but who remembers "Zaire 74," the music festival that was organized to go along with it? "Soul Power," a vibrant and joyous new documentary, should end that anonymity.

Summer movie season cooling off

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

'Star Trek' and 'The Hangover' fueled ticket sales early on but audiences have dwindled halfway through the season. There's lessons to be learned in the drop-off.

It may be an honest admission that Hollywood finally has run out of ideas, but this week's announcement that DreamWorks is developing a movie based on the View-Master couldn't come at a more fitting moment: Brand names people have heard of -- even those associated with a simple toy -- now mean more to a film's success than $20-million stars.

'Ferris Bueller's' best friend grows up to be the world's greatest dad

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

He comes full circle from high school nerd to a valedictorian's dad in 'Beth Cooper.'

It's hard to believe that Ferris Bueller's uptight best friend just turned 53.

Review: 'Brüno'

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Sacha Baron Cohen and his targets bare all in 'Brüno,' his madcap follow-up to 'Borat.'

Brüno, the latest character to be pulled out of Sacha Baron Cohen's closet, is a comic subversive of such wild extremes that brother Borat has got to be blushing his way out the backdoor in disguise.

Dole Food accuses 'Bananas!' filmmaker of slander, libel

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The documentary about workers' lawsuits that a judge ruled were fraudulent is riddled with inaccuracies, the firm contends.

Earlier this year, Dole Food Co. won a major victory in the L.A. courts when a judge threw out lawsuits brought by Nicaraguan banana workers purportedly rendered sterile by pesticide, saying the plaintiffs' case was a product of massive fraud.