Prototype Issue
The Golden State
The Golden State is Moliere’s The Miser adapted to a southern California setting, an estate somewhere in the hills with the wildfires closing in. “A play of greed, lust, and other American values” heralds the bill, “with women on top.”
Filmic Pearls of the Pacific Rim
The 24th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival was presented by Honda, May 1 - May 8, 2008 at five different theaters around town. Formerly the VC FilmFest, it is Southern Cal' largest and most prestigious film festival of its kind, celebrating Asian Pacific Heritage Month with a slate of more than 160 films and videos from both Asian Pacific American and Asian international directors.
Documentary Gets to the Root of Gang Violence
It's rare to see a film that really moves you towards seeking out change; change from within, change in the community, and change in the system.
MOVIES: Journey to the Center of the Earth, Kit Kitteredge: All American Girl, Trumbo, Wall-e, The Wackness, Hancock, Man on Wire, Find(...)
RealTALK picks favorites from movies in theaters now.
Here, There, and Everywhere
The musical 1960s mounted in 131 Minutes, 33 Beatles tunes, and three holy innocents. —On Across the Universe (while listening to the Beatles)
Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains
Demme's reverential Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains brings us into the swirling controversy surrounding the brave former President, but falls short of offering audiences a new inspiring message.
Forays into the Galaxy of World’s Largest Social Networking Site
Like the virtual universe of the Web itself, the MySpace galaxy is changing and expanding. Yet while the Web remains a nebulous frontier of almost endless possibilities, MySpace appears to be headed in an increasingly commercial direction.
You Don't Know Me Confronts The Truth Behind Addiction
Set in the Aliso Village housing projects of Boyle Heights, Santa (Erica Beas)is a 17-year-old senior who escapes the depressing circumstances of having a drug- and alcohol-addicted mother with her passion for spoken-word poetry.
Suzan-Lori Parks Services God for Inspiration and Plays Ambassador
Playwright and screenwriter Suzan-Lori Parks, who was awarded the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant in 2001 and Pulitzer Prize in 2002, demonstrates how she wards off writers block during a Q&A in Los Feliz recently.
LA Jewish Film Festival, 2008
For its third annual festival, this year year LAJFF Executive Director Hilary Helstein (also known as the director of the film As Seen Through These Eyes) programmed a sprightly festival celebrating the worldwide diversity of the Jewish Experience.
Leo Zhao's Nomadic Anti-Vapid World
We live in an era where the old categories of cool versus straight, radical versus establishment seem to hold little water. Virulent critiques of advertising and TV are published by ex-advertising and TV executives (think Adbusters).
Film Tranforms an Audience
I had my own preconceptions about the transgender community before going to see Cleo Valente's latest documentary Transformed, but all were debunked having witnessed the brave tales that unfolded in this educational piece.
Giant Robot Revealed
Eric Nakamura grew up like many Japanese American kids: stuck between worlds. Daily, after attending his public school classes, he went to Japanese language school, and his free time was spent hanging out at mom’s sushi restaurant.
City of Lights, City Of Angels Showcases 28 French Features
The 12th Annual City of Lights, City of Angels (COL•COA) presented in April 2008 a dazzling week of 28 new French filmsranging from art house fare to horror. Featuring a large delegation of filmmakers, COLCOA is known for fascinating Q&A's and imaginative shorts.
Cholo Style: Homies, Homegirls & La Raza
The “cholo” image and identity is tricky for most people to wrap their mind around.
LA's French Film Festival
The 12th Annual City of Lights, City of Angels (COL•COA) presented in April 2008 a dazzling week of 28 new French filmsranging from art house fare to horror. Featuring a large delegation of filmmakers, COLCOA is known for fascinating Q&A's and imaginative shorts.
Be Kind Rewind
Director Michel Gondry’s latest is a love letter. The wildly imaginative Frenchman has set his cupid bow sights on the dispossessed: social outcasts, jazz, mom and pop shops and video tape.
Santa Monica Canyon
Call it a contemporary conundrum, but it seems to be just as difficult to find a gay novel shrouded in a hot-pink book jacket as it is to find a high-flying rainbow flag in hipster-homosexual Silver Lake nowadays.
Max and Jason: Faces of Current TV
Max Lugavere and Jason Silva are best friends and hosts and producers at Current TV in LA. Current was created by Al Gore and his business partner, Joel Hyatt, to serve as an alternative news network for the 18-to-34-year-old demographic.
The Village of Water Spirits: The Dreams of African Americans
Preserving the teachings of native tradition, Michael Ortiz Hill passes on the knowledge of his scholastic digging.
A Macho Man Ain't So Bad After All
Between prepping for her "Macho Men" nationwide tour, which launched in LA at the Kodak Theatre (she’s the first Latina to ever perform here) and basking in her recent Imagen Award win for Best Theatrical Performance, Maria Costa took some time out to chat with RTLA.
The Dating Repair Kit: How to Have a Fabulous Love Life
Dating books are like exercise programs: It doesn’t matter which one you pick, and as long as you commit to a regimen—any regimen—you’re bound to garner improvements. It also beats sitting on your couch eating Häagen-Dazs.
Calling Outer Space, Calling MySpace:
Forays into the galaxy of world’s largest social networking site.
Wake-Up Call: La Prima Dominique
Dominique DiPrima is the emotionally generous, inexhaustibly energetic and impressively talented, smart-ass smart interviewer of KJLH-FM’s The Front Page.
