Alumni offer quick, easy tanning solution
Spray Tan L.A., a service created by two alumni, brings the sun right your home — as tested by one brave Daily Trojan reporter.
New comedy fails to reach its potential
These days, comedy’s best friend is your average Joe. Writer-producer-director Mike Judge taps into this phenomenon with his own quirky rendition of ordinary people living their ordinary lives. Judge’s latest film, Extract, is being promoted as the unofficial sequel to his box-office-flop-turned-cult-classic Office Space, harnessing the same “stick-it-to-the-man” attitude. The emphasis here, however, isn’t on […]
Foreign film depicts an honest, intimate portrait of family life
F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously said, “Family quarrels are bitter things. They don’t go according to any rules. They’re more like splits in the skin that won’t heal because there’s not enough material.” Still Walking, the new film by the modern Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda, is about just that kind of wound, the sort that […]
Tarantino once again proves maverick status
Quentin Tarantino is such a punk. Against all reason, Inglourious Basterds might just be cinema’s final word on World War II and the Holocaust. And, Tarantino is a punk for making it that way. Without giving too much away by suggestion, the much-discussed ending of his highly stylized, spaghetti Western influenced movie explosively rewrites history. […]
Bluegrass punks refine sound on new album
Rick Rubin eases The Avett Brothers transition from indie act to major label darlings.
Yearly fires part of LA culture
Remember Prometheus? He stole fire from the gods and gave the gift to mankind. As a result, he was sentenced to the grisly fate of having his liver eaten by a bird every day while chained to a lonely rock. It must have been hard for the poor guy to watch his own guts be […]
Rob Zombie revitalizes gore of Halloweens past
Writer-director Rob Zombie possesses a lot of ambition that has yet to be perfected. His new film, Halloween 2, which itself is a sequel to his 2007 remake of John Carpenter’s 1978 slasher classic Halloween, clearly illustrates that while Zombie has a long way to go, he is certainly heading in the right direction. Zombie’s […]
Festival receives makeover for a cause
Entering into its sixth year, the annual FYF Fest reinvents its name, venue and objective.
Summer camps spark transition into adulthood
This weekend, I flew across the country to my favorite city in the continental US: Boston. Say it with me now, “Baawston.” There, I did a few of my favorite things: I devoured some lobster bisque, spent a few hours at Newbury Comics and even enjoyed some of the best crab cakes I have ever […]
Local band’s catchy full-length album enchants listeners
After much anticipation, Los Angeles indie pop band The Happy Hollows releases its first full-length album this fall. For those lucky enough to have seen the eclectic group live on campus at KSCRfest last semester or for those who where hooked on its Imaginary EP, the wait is finally over. To say that this album […]