AltWeeklies Wire
The Trials of Mexican Georgenew
For 20 years, the feds have suspected supermarket mogul George Torres is a drug runner and murderer with friends in Los Angeles City Hall. Now they'll try to make it stick.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Jeffrey Anderson |
02-23-2009 |
Crime & Justice
The Polka Dot Lives on for Animal Collectivenew
Animal Collective make music that’s sometimes discordant garage rock, sometimes more like the most unrestrained Beach Boys, sometimes nothing like rock or pop at all. Their albums are a welter of found sounds and instruments, each treated and warped and rolled inside-out until they’re unrecognizable. But there’s beauty and joy and life there, too.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Trinie Dalton |
01-23-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Jazz Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard Diesnew
Hubbard, who died on December 29 at age 70 after suffering a heart attack in late November, remained almost peerless for 50 or so years with his chosen instrument.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
David Cotner |
01-09-2009 |
Music
Who is Brian Wilson?new
Since the first “Brian Is Back!” campaign in 1976, Wilson has developed something like the tidal rhythm of the sea he sang about: sometimes in, sometimes out; sometimes high, sometimes low.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Chris Ziegler |
01-09-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Brad Pitt Nails 'Button'new
How crazy ... or bold ... or foolhardy ... do you have to be to make a big, expensive movie out of F. Scott Fitzgerald's least adaptable short story?
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Andy Klein |
12-29-2008 |
Reviews
Mickey Rourke Stages a Comeback in 'The Wrestler'new
He's pretty much a lock for a Best Actor Oscar nomination, and he deserves it, though Sean Penn, for Milk, is a better bet to win.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Andy Klein |
12-19-2008 |
Reviews
SantaCon 2008's Rein(deer) of Terrornew
The gathering of the Santas at the boathouse was on a comedy level somewhere closer to the Firesign Theatre, as nearly 300 crowded the park. There were hippie, hipster and biker Santas; Santas in Lucha Libre and green gorilla masks; and some tall St. Nick with a star on his eye like Paul Stanley from KISS. All moved in cheery circles around red-suited and tinsel-daubed ladies, some of them too slinky and sexed-up for lap-sitting shifts at any department store.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Ron Garmon |
12-12-2008 |
Culture
'Gran Torino' Finds Clint Funny and Still Toughnew
While Gran Torino is not without serious aspects, it feels far more "commercial" than Changeling or than such Eastwood award-winners as Bird, Unforgiven, Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Andy Klein |
12-12-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
'Frost/Nixon': Frosted Dicknew
Like Oliver Stone, Ron Howard paints Nixon a little more sympathetically than many of us who remember the era are likely to warm to. Nixon was an unlovable scoundrel, a villain who would have dismantled the Constitution, had he been able to.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Andy Klein |
12-05-2008 |
Reviews
Seven False Starts About the Death of David Foster Wallacenew
By now you may have heard. The most influential and innovative fiction stylist of his generation, the smartest, funniest, strangest, most endearing and (let's just say it) the greatest writer under 50 in America, killed himself at his Claremont home on Sept. 12.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Cornel Bonca |
12-05-2008 |
Books
Giving Thanks for Buy Nothing Daynew
I am about 14 years late to the party on this one, but I'm planning on staying for a bit, and inviting friends. Anyway, the message is that buying more stuff -- even eco-friendly stuff -- is not the answer. Consuming less is a good start. We've been here before.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Coco Tanaka |
12-01-2008 |
Shopping
Is Hollywood Recession-Proof?new
While there are many more pressing national issues about the economic crisis than How It Will Affect the Film Industry, our local economy is bound up with Hollywood tightly enough that it's a legitimate subject for concern.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Andy Klein |
12-01-2008 |
Movies
Election '08: Truth, Justice, and the New American Waynew
The luxury liner of consumerism has smacked into the iceberg. Sarah Palin can cry "socialism" and let slip the dogs of McCarthy, but Republicans have burned even their most flimsy credibility. And yet President-Elect Obama is just a man. Can he actually save a grateful nation?
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Mick Farren |
11-07-2008 |
Commentary
Sam & Mac Do Sam & Dave in 'Soul Men'new
Malcolm D. Lee's latest may be lightweight and flawed, but it cruises on star power and great music.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Andy Klein |
11-07-2008 |
Reviews
Who Wants to Be the President of Hell?new
It seems like only two years ago the presidential campaign started -- because that's how long it was: two years ago. Those two years end Tuesday night, but with a bang, or apocalypse?
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Ken Layne |
10-31-2008 |
Commentary
