Dark of the Moon transforms a successful franchise
Transformers: Dark of the Moon opens with a space battle worthy of Star Wars that introduces legendary Autobot warrior Sentinel Prime (Leonard Nimoy), who crashlands on the Earth’s moon in the midst of the 1960s space race between America and Russia, before promptly jumping to the present to find the Autobots working with mankind to [...]
Read the rest of this article »Adapted comic book flick has the ring, but no power
With the summer releases of Thor and X-Men: First Class behind us and Captain America, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Cowboys & Aliens on the way, 2011 looks to offer the perfect summer for comic book movies. Green Lantern should fit right in, but instead it fails miserably both on its own merits and [...]
Read the rest of this article »New origin story places mutants in center of history
There are bound to be fans of the X-Men saga who will be pleased with last weekend’s long-awaited prequel, X-Men: First Class. Although the film does breathe some new life into the sagging franchise, it’s emphatically not the fantastic film it could have been, and it most likely won’t age particularly well. Unimaginative dialogue, a [...]
Read the rest of this article »Filmmaking juggernauts team up for 1970s thriller
J.J. Abrams keeps on coming back to a box he received in his childhood. As a boy, Abrams was given a ‘mystery box’ — unknown items inside a box labeled only with a question mark. Abrams, now nearly 45, has never opened it, but has said the box’s tug on his imagination greatly influences his [...]
Read the rest of this article »Follow-up a hollow echo of original film
With a movie like The Hangover, any follow up would feel forced. The original was so twisted, so hilarious and so extremely out there that putting the four leads through the same situation would raise questions. But director Todd Phillips, who co-wrote the sequel, managed to prevent things from being completely repetitive. The result is [...]
Read the rest of this article »Tides sets up possibility of franchise built around Depp
What is a film franchise to do when what was originally supposed to be a supporting character completely hijacks the series? In the case of Pirates of the Caribbean, the answer was to ditch the intended leads and start another set of films showcasing the breakout character, here, Johnny Depp’s mercurial Captain Jack Sparrow. Pirates [...]
Read the rest of this article »Money, passion square off in Allen’s latest
It’s fairly common to hear someone say, “I wish I could have lived in the 1950s” or “I wonder what it was like to be a flapper in the 1920s.” What’s not as common is the realization of that curiosity, something Woody Allen delightfully brings to the screen in his newest film, Midnight In Paris. [...]
Read the rest of this article »Wedding-themed comedy starring two SNL veterans takes the cake
It’s been called “The Hangover for girls,” but that falsely supposes two things. Primarily, it insinuates that female audiences are somehow incapable of fully enjoying or appreciating Todd Phillips’ 2009 morning-after comedy about a trio of friends trying to piece together the events of the previous night’s drunken bender of a bachelor party. But secondly, [...]
Read the rest of this article »That’s What I Am more than just a coming-of-age tale
Were kids just as mean 50 years ago as they were today? The quote “It has often been said that children are cruel” is displayed at the beginning of That’s What I Am, a remarkable, uplifting exploration of a boy’s journey to manhood amongst the discrimination and trials of a 1960s middle-school. Written and directed [...]
Read the rest of this article »Bananas! tells story of a global food industry
We see them in piles at the grocery store, on our kitchen counters, atop our cereal, but for many plantation workers in Nicaragua, daily exposure to bananas has had a much more profound impact on their lives. Swedish filmmaker Fredrik Gertten’s Bananas! artfully relates the true stories of a handful of these plantation workers as [...]
Read the rest of this article »The Los Angeles Police Department arrested two men Friday afternoon believed to be responsible for ...
USC will move to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of two ...
The Daily Trojan features Classified advertising in each day's edition. Here you can read, search, ...
The USC women's tennis team has reached the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament ...
The USC Trojan Marching Band traveled to London on Monday to play in three concerts ...
Following eight months of negotiations, USC obtained day-to-day control of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ...
Kenneth Leventhal, a USC trustee and real estate accountant known for his leadership, energy and philanthropy, died May 8. He was 90.Leventhal had prostate cancer, ...
Nearly 14,000 graduates were honored Friday as USC marked its 129th annual commencement ceremony with a keynote address from award-winning journalist Christiane Amanpour.Amanpour is the ...
Following eight months of negotiations, USC obtained day-to-day control of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in a vote by the Coliseum Commission on Monday.The stadium’s ...
Kenneth Leventhal, a USC life trustee and namesake of the USC Elaine and Kenneth Leventhal School of Accounting, died Tuesday morning in Los Angeles. He ...
Steve A. Kay, a biology professor from UC San Diego, was appointed the 21st Dean of the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences on ...
Numerous measures will be added to secure public safety in and around the university, including additional Los Angeles Police Department officers, technology and education.At a ...
Never has an American president openly supported gay marriage — that is, until President Barack Obama declared his monumental stance last week.Much of our progressive ...
Summer has finally arrived, which means three months of great weather and plenty of exciting things to do, whether it’s in Los Angeles or back ...
Students and administrators have been racking their brains for a solution to the bicycle congestion on campus.But a new bike policy isn’t going to change ...
April was a big month for drugs. From Rihanna rolling a blunt on top of some guy’s head at Coachella to Santa Cruz’s renowned 4/20 ...
As if soon-to-be college graduates need any more reminding, the Associated Press reported Monday that one in two new graduates is jobless or underemployed. According ...
Industrialization began with modest advances in technology that made once-tedious tasks quicker. The second wave of innovation utilized assembly lines, factories and specialization of manual ...
After being swept by No. 5 Oregon over the weekend, USC is on a skid unlike any the team has experienced all season. Seven consecutive ...
No. 3 USC lost a defensive battle to No. 1 Stanford 6-4 on Sunday in the NCAA tournament final, as the Cardinal fended off multiple ...
After kicking off the NCAA championships with two sweeps, the men's tennis team looks to string together four more wins to capture its fourth-consecutive NCAA ...
No. 1 UC Irvine upended the No. 2 USC men's volleyball team in straight sets to win the NCAA championship Saturday with scores of 25-22, 34-32 ...
The USC men’s volleyball team earned a spot in the NCAA championship match against UC Irvine after beating Lewis University on Thursday at the Galen ...
The band name Bloody Knives carries the weight of a heavy metal, hardcore punk band’s alias.But the title is deceiving: Artistically choosing to put aside ...
For L.A. indie-rock quintet Vanaprasta, numbers are everything.Numbers, as guitarist and vocalist Collin Desha explained, “just sort of wrapped everything together.”In one instance, as the ...
In a nutshell, Tim Burton’s cinematic style could be described as dark, eccentric and humorous.Anyone familiar with Burton’s previous work, including Corpse Bride and Alice ...
A sharp intake of breath at the start of a measure, the soft brush as a bow hits the strings --— these intimate details happen ...
It’s a strange time for comics. It’s a strange time for media. Newspapers and books are struggling with the digital market, while films and music ...
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The university hosted the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books Saturday and Sunday, bringing Angelenos to campus to celebrate and enjoy reading, books and music. ...
Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation led a group of students in protest on Thursday against university's manufacturing of some USC apparel in sweat shops.Photos by ...
The much-anticipated Expo Line is slated to open Phase 1 of the project April 28, 2012, connecting Downtown Los Angeles and the university to La ...
Various student groups performed five-minute musical skits at Songfest on Friday in Bovard Auditorium. The money raised goes to Troy Camp. [caption id="attachment_49803" align="alignnone" width="581" caption="Members ...
LAPD and USC held a press conference Friday to announce a $125, 000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect ...
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