Los Angeles’ best underground acts take over the Viper Room
The Happy Hollows, Gangi, the Soft Hands and Useless Keys played as part of the KROQ-sponsored concert series, “10 Days of 2010.”
Indie band’s second album fails to impress
If you’re in need of background music for your next vegan barbecue with your American Apparel-clad hipster friends, Nana Grizol’s Ruth would be a good candidate. It would fit in seamlessly on your “Indie” playlist, and don’t worry — no song is so fast it makes you bob your head to the point of choking […]
Poor execution stakes vampire movie
Amid the number of vampire films emerging from the recent craze, it has been hard to find a true vampire story. While vampire movies released lately do pertain to blood-sucking creatures, they lean toward one of two ends of the vampire myth spectrum. On one end of the spectrum are the Anne Rice and Twilight […]
New Year’s Eve performance reveals timeless pop diva
This past New Year’s Eve, Manhattan witnessed a second hotspot of frenetic plastic sunglass and top hat-clad citygoers in addition to the 12-hour long bash at Times Square. Barely 10 blocks south of the world’s most famous bejeweled ball, “the world’s most famous arena” was abuzz with something much larger than an ordinary Knicks or […]
Vegan New York bakery makes the move to Downtown L.A.
Babycakes NYC creates all-natural sweets for those with special diets and allergies.
Top 20 albums of ’09
1. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix V2 Records Released: May 26 Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is the best kind of record, the kind that slowly, insidiously seeps into your head and then takes up residence there, refusing to leave. A grower, in short, but one that proves itself more than worthy of all the attention. It’s […]
2009 a year in review: Sleeper hits make for strong film year
2009. What a great year for movies — but not to hear the pundits tell it. This past year was hastily branded as an “off year” in cinema, as if the absence of a glut of great films by established masters somehow consigns an entire year to mediocrity. While there were some disappointments in 2009, […]
‘Assassin’s’ back and better than before
Sequel moves setting from Crusades Era Middle East to Renaissance Italy.
A decade of maverick filmmaking
Wikipedia states that to be considered an independent film, half the film’s budget must come from a source besides a major studio. But to hipsters everywhere, “indie” can either be annoying and pretentious or nihilistic and edgy. In any case, so-called indie film has come a long way in the last 10 years. This list […]
Reitman fails to ground himself in reality
Up in the Air ignores any statutes of limitation on making fun of the American economy and goes straight for the jugular — finding veins of comedy and drama within the plight of the American worker. With a director like Jason Reitman at the helm, Up in the Air is hardly typical as satire, and, […]