AltWeeklies Wire
'The Class': To Sir, With Attitudenew
French cinema is famously dialogue-heavy, but next to Arnaud Desplechin's A Christmas Tale, The Class qualifies hands down as the chattiest movie of the year.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
12-19-2008 |
Reviews
The Year in Reading About Foodnew
When I look over at the nightstand, taking quick inventory of what I've been reading over the last few months, the pile is depressingly salted with books on the death and dying of the ocean.
L.A. Weekly |
Jonathan Gold |
12-19-2008 |
Books
Clint Eastwood, America's Directornew
"You've made the first movie of the Obama generation!" exclaimed an audience member, as he rushed up to Clint Eastwood after a recent screening of Gran Torino. "Well," the 78-year-old actor-director replied, without missing a beat, "I was actually born under Hoover."
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
12-19-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
L.A. Couple Calls for Gay Designers to Boycott Straight Weddingsnew
While others have designated Dec. 10 as a shopping day without gays, ChadMichael Morrisette and Mito Aviles are calling for a gay boycott on straight weddings. And if they get their way, there's going to be a whole lot of ugly happening each time man takes woman to be his lawfully wedded wife.
L.A. Weekly |
Gendy Alimurung |
12-12-2008 |
LGBT
The Long and (Oscar-) Worthy Road to Redemption of 'The Reader'new
Like Doubt, Stephen Daldry's The Reader is low-budget, high-profile and beamed straight at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Category of High Moral Tone.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
12-12-2008 |
Reviews
Shutting Down Public-Access TV in L.A.new

If everything unfolds as planned, Time Warner will walk away from operating 12 public-access studios in L.A, which help everyday people to create hundreds of hours of content on 11 freewheeling, neighborhood-based public channels.
L.A. Weekly |
Patrick Range McDonald |
12-12-2008 |
Media
Clint Eastwood Finds Salvation in 'Gran Torino'new

Above all, Gran Torino feels like a summation of everything he represents as a filmmaker and a movie star, and perhaps also a farewell.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
12-12-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
'Doubt' Wags the Finger of Moral Relativismnew
With its bristling topicality, ritzy cast and the added bonus of Roger Deakins' gracefully bleak cinematography, Doubt is being squired around town as prime Oscar bait. But in Shanley’s hands, it only looks deep.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
12-12-2008 |
Reviews
Critic-o-Meter: Grading, or Degrading?new

On Friday, theater critic-mavens Isaac Butler and Rob Weinert-Kendt officially launched their ambitious labor of love, Critic-o-Meter, a blog ratings system inspired directly by Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, and philosophically by Zagat.
L.A. Weekly |
Steven Leigh Morris |
12-12-2008 |
Theater
Why The Fine Print of 'Chinese Democracy' is Way More Fun Than the Recordnew

I feel comfortable stating that Guns N' Roses' long-awaited album is the last record I will ever buy just to read the liner notes. Holy shit. Do pop into Best Buy this week and have a gander.
L.A. Weekly |
Rob Harvilla |
12-01-2008 |
Music
The Best and Worst of L.A. Buses, Subways and Light Railnew
With all the bad news out there about L.A.'s public transportation, it's no wonder that so many of us don't even bother trying to get anyplace by bus or light rail. But after spending several months traveling around the city on trains and buses, I can report that our local transit has improved over the past couple of decades.
L.A. Weekly |
Steven Leigh Morris |
12-01-2008 |
Transportation
'Australia': Somewhere Over the Datelinenew
You don't have to have been raised on colonial Brit Lit, classic melodramas, Westerns, war movies, or Gone With the Wind to predict the likely outcome of Baz Luhrmann's Australia within its first 15 minutes, but any or all of the above will help.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
12-01-2008 |
Reviews
Young Gays Take Reins From Elders on Prop. 8new
In wake of gay-marriage ban, the mantle is shifting from battle-scarred AIDS warriors.
L.A. Weekly |
Patrick Range McDonald |
12-01-2008 |
LGBT
Catherine Deneuve: Belle De 50 Ansnew
The actress on her new film, A Christmas Tale, and her long, glorious non-career.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
11-21-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Villaraigosa Helps Obama on the Economy ... Why?new
Filled with some of the most experienced business, economic policy and labor leaders in the country, Obama's Transition Economic Advisory Board includes luminaries like Warren Buffett and CEO of Google. And Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. We took to the streets to find out how Angelenos would vet Villaraigosa’s economic qualifications.
L.A. Weekly |
Tibby Rothman |
11-21-2008 |
Politics