Will Smith is one of Philadelphia's great "local boy makes good" stories (and Philly hasn't forgotten that, either; I'm pretty sure I sat next to his school teacher at the preview screening of this film that I attended, and even though she was asleep for a good portion of it, she seemed happy to be there). He's come a long way, and although he doesn't always make the best choices, he does always put in......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. Juno - Another of this year's big pregnancy comedies! We'll have a review coming up later today. Trailer Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse The Red Balloon - A remake of the 1956 French classic about the evil red balloon that stalks and kills people! Well, okay, it's not a mean and deadly balloon. But it does stalk people! Juliette Binoche stars as a single mother......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. Are you a meanderthal? Not sure? Check the urban dictionary, and beware! Apparently the word could soon be heading to the real dictionary. (Via Jill) Uh oh - looks like the upper ups at Warner Bros. demanded some last minute changes to the ending of I Am Legend. That's rarely good news... Supposedly The Movie Blog got their hands on some......

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we'll be posting events that are going on sale during the current week. This Tuesday post only collects the early announcements, so definitely check back on Thursday for the latest ticket news. Valencia The Troc Thu, 12/27/07, 6PM $15 On sale: Today, 12PM, Ticketmaster Your Sweet Uncertainty The Troc Wed, 12/5/07, 6:30PM $10 On sale: Wed, 12PM, Ticketmaster Q102 Jingle Ball 2007 Tweeter Center at the Waterfront, Camden Sun, 12/16/07, 6PM......

Know who's playing the Electric Factory this coming Thursday? Arctic Monkeys (MySpace) and be your own PET (MySpace). If you don't know why this will be an awesome show... well, first of all, where have you been and what's wrong with you? And second of all, these are both bands that are known to be even better live, and their recorded stuff already rocks. BYOP is Sonic Youth-approved, and all crazy lyrics and smashing......

As I write this, I've just returned from dinner with friends at Bistro Romano. I almost didn't go, because the restaurant's menu on MenuPages indicated that its prices didn't mesh so well with the Unemployment Diet, which I am still on. (I've lost twelve pounds, though!) Fortunately, my buddy Tom, who chose the restaurant, told me about Bistro Romano's Pasta Night on Mondays: a salad and any pasta dish off the menu for less......

When we headed into the city from the depths of the wild Philadelphia suburbs, we were practically giddy with anticipation at being offered the chance to see Yo La Tengo, one of our favorite bands, live at the Trocadero. That euphoria lasted about fifteen minutes after we entered the Troc. Look, we realize it's wintertime, and people take up more room when they're wearing their bulky winter coats, and we realize that it was......

Yo La Tengo
1/29/07-2/2/07...

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we'll be posting events that are going on sale during the current week. This Thursday post only collects the latest announcements, so definitely check the Tuesday post for any you may have missed. I AM the Avalanche Chameleon Club, Lancaster Thu, 1/25/07, 6PM $10 On sale: Today, 10AM, TicketMaster Cowboy Mouth w/ Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk House of Blues Atlantic City Sat, 2/3/07, 8PM $15 On sale: Sat, 11AM, TicketMaster We don't......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. In the last Whiz installment, a reader reprimanded us for not mentioning any of the exciting news about the Wii that came out at Nintendo's press conferences yesterday morning. Sadly, we must admit sometimes we are a bit slow getting the cool internet news to you, but we always get it to you eventually! So here's the breakdown on all the latest Wii......

If you haven't noticed, we love to get press releases at Phillyist because they make us feel really important. When we're riding the Blue Line around the city (y'know, just to meet people), we carry around these releases so that bored people reading Us Weekly or National Geographic Traveler will look at us and go, "Hey, that person has a press release. That person has become important all of a sudden." So, we can't wait......

We’re totally jazzed about the Live Arts and Fringe Festivals, but if we started listing PLAF shows, we’d never get the rest of these listings to ya’ll. Check out the festival page (below) for more info – but don’t forget about all of the other theatrical happenings in the Greater Philadelphia area! Loot - Bank robbers and body snatchers and Catholics, oh my! The play runs September 8-October 30 at the Arden Theatre in Olde......