Disney delivers a not-so-cheery ‘Christmas Carol’


By
 in ,
The cinematic depection of old, miserly Ebenezer Scrooge — Charles Dickens’ very own Grinch — is hardly original material. A Christmas Carol has been adapted too many times to count. Every winter, dramatic renditions of the novella originally published in 1843 are enacted on stages worldwide. Allusions to the tale and comparisons to Scrooge are […]

Single-screen theaters cultivate best and worst of indie film


By
 in ,
What can you say about a movie in 200 words? At the Daily Trojan, the word count for film reviews stands at somewhere around 800. At other papers, that number runs higher or lower depending on the editor and, more frequently these days, the bean counters behind the arts section. Put all those words together, […]

Clichés inevitable in likening cities


By
 2 Comments/in ,
There are two destinations where dreamers go to pursue wealth and fame: If you’re reading this, you’ve probably chosen Los Angeles. The other city, LA’s older sibling, still serves as a destination for wide-eyed youths yearning to make it big: New York City, which, on this side of the country, can inspire either wonder and […]

Best-selling author depicts realistic political Pursuit


By
 in
In the world of espionage, laws mean next to nothing. The ability to kill effectively without a guilty conscience, however, is everything. In his 10th novel in the Mitch Rapp series, Pursuit of Honor, best-selling author Vince Flynn delivers a cast of well-defined and realistic characters who must go beyond authority to catch the bad […]

Film uses science, not religion, to debate Darwin


By
 57 Comments/in , ,
With nothing but a projector screen and folding chairs, the tiny Embassy Auditorium of the Davidson Conference Center is a far cry from the 50-foot-high IMAX theater where Darwin’s Dilemma was originally scheduled to be screened. Even though the California Science Center recently backed out of its contract to host the film’s Los Angeles premiere, […]