Sorted by date Results 1081 - 1105 of 1157
Rich, young, beautiful and the belle of the ball. We should all be so cursed. But what happens when despite all of your "gifts", you still crave one thing above all others - a father’s love for his little girl? And what happens when your wealth and beauty and the appearance of "having it all" makes you a prime target for ransom from a supposedly loving father? If you’re Alice Creed, nothing good. Danny and Vic became buddies in prison. With time on their hands and nothing better to do than plo...
Approximately 25% of America’s active military force returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Statistics released by the Pentagon in May 2010 are sobering. In 2009, 1,224 soldiers received a medical discharge due to PTSD - an increase of 64% since 2005 and which accounts for 1 in 9 medical discharges. For the first time in 15 years, mental health disorders caused more solider hospitalizations that any other medical condition, including physical i...
THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE. The very words warm you as you are flooded with joyous memories and images of what may be the most iconic ten minutes of film in the history of movies. Just thinking about a little mouse named Mickey with his oversized red robe and blue sorcerer’s hat covered in golden moon and stars conducting a symphony of magical mops and brooms gone awry, brings a smile to your face and your heart, and maybe even a few goosebumps. And you wonder - how can anything compare with thi...
first heard about the Mustang Ranch and owners Sally and Joe Conforte during my college days back in 1976. I was intrigued by their entire story. The first legal brothel in the United States, the Mustang Ranch was located just outside Reno, Nevada and Sally and Joe were somewhat of a novelty to say the least. Sally, daughter of a prostitute, and Joe, your average wannabe mafioso-type, seemed like the ideal coupling combining brains, brawn and breasts. (Needless to say, Sally was the brains of...
The Academy of Visual & Performing Arts at Culver City High School recognizes the following 50 program graduates on their achievements and scholarly pursuits. The Academy operates after school and is open to all high school students, not only those enrolled in Culver City High School. AVPA Theatre Senior Graduates Joey Guthman ~ Emerson College, Boston; Jeanette Carl Memorial Scholarship Scholarship Angie Harvey ~ Santa Monica College; El Rincon PTA Scholarship Sarah Hattem ~ American University DC Ben Klemes ~ New York University; Culver City...
Oliver Stone is legendary for his excellence as a filmmaker. “Wall Street”, “JFK”, “W”, “Nixon”, “Born on the Fourth of July” are just the tip of the iceberg. He is equally known for controversy as to alleged historical accuracies or implications of conspiracy theories he espouses in many of his “fictional” scripts. But the tables turn when you start talking accuracy, information and education in his documentaries, as they are inscrutable, and never moreso than with SOUTH OF THE BORDER. Wh...
With the Fourth of July upon us, what better way to celebrate than to remember and honor the men and women who, for over 200 years, have fought for and defended the freedoms that we as Americans hold so dear, the freedoms that make up the very core and foundation of what America is. As of year end 2009, there were approximately 1.6 million service members in the U.S. Armed Forces with 1.13 million stationed within the United States. An excess of 516,273 U.S. military are deployed in...
By now, you all know me well enough to know that I will kill for a great horror film. Sure, I like the blood and guts and slashing and hacking that often comes with the genre, but when I find a horror film that tantalizes both the mind and the senses, well, I just die. Thankfully, we've got a real champion of indie films and the horror genre in Larry Fessenden and Glass Eye Pix, who took a big bite of the great line-up of films at the 2010 LA Film Festival with BITTER FEAST, a deliciously...
It’s that time again! Time for the Los Angeles Film Festival! Now in its 16th year and running from June 17th to 27th, LAFF 2010 has plenty of surprises in store for you, not the least of which is its relocation to the LA Live complex in Downtown Los Angeles. Infusing the new level of energy and excitement of the Downtown area into the Fest, it looks like we’re in for a festival of blockbuster proportions. Still calling on the beauty and magic of selected screenings under the stars at Ford Amp...
When it was finished, there was no theatrical release. Trolls were nowhere to be found. Instead vegetarian goblins were the enemies of the Waits family, and what was performed in true earnest, went straight to VHS and BETA, leading the young Stephenson to turn off his VCR and the parents and sister of George Hardy who played the family patriarch, Michael Waits, to avow, “This is the worst movie ever made.” Over the years, Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB concurred with the Hardy family and TROLL 2 gar...
I still remember when NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD was released. A mere youngster, I thought it was one of the coolest films I had ever seen. It’s still a face of mine. I found the whole concept and look of Zombies fascinating. Cooler than the movie however, was the marketing campaign which had giveaways of plastic lined “barf bags” emblazoned with a rubber-stamped red mini-lobby card of the film. Yes folks - it was rubber stamped with an ink pad on the bags. (These were the days of pre-high tech...
Take three parts “Indiana Jones”, add two parts “The Mummy”, mix in some “National Treasure” and then toss in a little Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort and even a little Anakin Skywalker, and you’ve got yourself PRINCE OF PERSIA - A Roller Coaster Ride for the Ages!! Based on Jordan Mechner’s highly successful 1989 video game, “Prince of Persia”, uber producer Jerry Bruckheimer has assembled the preeminent technical artisans in the industry today, a world class cast, an imaginative mythica...
In 1865, Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a mathematics professor at Christchurch University in Oxford, England forever changed the world. No, he didn’t disprove the Pythagorean Theory or find a new way to alter tax percentages to help the people. What he did do was much more amazing and wonderful. Reverend Dodgson, under the pen name of Lewis Carroll, created the incredible, fantastical and imaginative world of Wonderland and began to write stories about a little girl named Alice. With its b...
The Best Picture Oscar race officially takes off this week with the release of Anurag Basu’s KITES. This is PURE OSCAR GOLD. Unfamiliar with Basu’s work, I went into this screening blind, with no idea of the story, the filmmakers or the actors, but I quickly found myself blinded by the beauty before me on screen and the brilliance of a stunning and exceptional film. Reminiscent of Baz Luhrmann in style, color and texture, KITES is a seamless, beauteous meld of “Moulin Rouge!” and “Romeo...
Ah, Juliet. The mere mention of the name may make even the most hardened heart a tad wistful at the thought of love won or love lost, while for the true romantics, hearts may go pitter patter and eyes well with tears of joy, or heartache. Juliet is, after all, one-half of the most romantic and enchanted couples of the ages, albeit in literature. Thanks to William Shakespeare, the 14th century story of the Montagues and Capulets and the forbidden and fated love of Romeo and Juliet has endured...
I should know by now that anything to which Nicholas Sparks is attached will guarantee an increase in the stock value of Kleenex. A world class novelist, the mere mention of some of his most cherished works, “The Notebook”, “Dear John”, “Message in a Bottle”, “Nights in Rodanthe” and “The Wedding”, bring tears to the eyes on recalling the indelible and deep emotion of the stories, the characters and the film adaptations. And now, not only does Sparks give us another emotional heartwren...
Leo Tolstoy is long considered one of the greatest novelists of our time. Celebrated for works such as “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina”, his appeal is as universal as the language of love itself, a language for which he publicly espoused its idealistic virtues, but behind closed doors, led a life in his final days that was anything but. Married to the Countess Sofya for 48 years, theirs was a true partnership, a true story of love and hate, passion and fury. With a vast difference in their a...
Think back to your youth and those small suburban neighborhoods or city communities or even now in this age of technogadgetry. Remember when Mr. Jones got a new car? What did your dad go out and do? He went and got a new car. Of course, then Mr. Jones went out and got an even newer and fancier car which meant every other dad had to go get the newer and fancier car. And what about that 4 foot above ground pool and cedar fence that Mr. Jones put in? How long did it take before every other house...
The bar is set and the Documentary Oscar race begins with the debut of WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY. Not environmentally or politically messaged, WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY takes a rare, honest, and very personal, even cathartic, behind-the-scenes look into a pivotal time in the animation world of the Mouse House (a.k.a. Disney). Not just a trip down memory lane, but a trip into the world that gave us the likes of Tim Burton, John Lasseter, Don Bluth and dozens of other artisans and magicians, WAKING...
“THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST” by Oscar Wilde From Friday, May 7 to Saturday, June 12, 2010 At the Westchester Playhouse Kentwood Players continues its 60th Anniversary Season with Oscar Wilde’s immortal classic "The Importance of Being Earnest" from May 7 to June 12, 2010 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, at the Westchester Playhouse located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester. The production is directed by Drew Fitzsimmons and produced by Jim Crawford and Alison Mattiza. Featured in the cast are Marcy Agreen, Lorenzo B...
The Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) will welcome young filmmakers from around Los Angeles County to participate in the 12th Annual Frost Film Festival. The festival runs Friday and Saturday from 7 p.m. to 10 in the Sony Black Box Theatre, Room 9 in Robert Frost Auditorium, 4401 Elenda Street, Culver City. General Admission each night is $10 and $8 for ASB/Seniors/ Children/Faculty. Seating is very limited; we recommend that you purchase tickets prior to the screening. Tickets can be purchased online at avpa.org or in person...
Tennessee Williams is long and widely considered to be one of, if not the most celebrated and important American playwright of our time. His collected works are prolific and memorable, taking not only the stage by storm, but the silver screen as well. Celebrating the grandeur, pomp, and dare I say, arrogance, of predominantly the post-reconstruction South and particularly the women of the day, his 1920's characters are indelibly etched in our minds. Be it Blanche DuBois, Amanda Wingfield,...
Every year the Southern Region of CETA (California Educational Theatre Association) holds a High School Theatre Festival. The festival showcases four mainstage shows which have been selected from each of the four regions of Southern California: Los Angeles, Orange County, the Inland Empire, and San Diego County. This year CETA selected Culver City High School's Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) cast and crew of Nicholas Nickleby as the first place winners in all of Los Angeles County. Nicholas Nickleby, directed by Sheila Silver,...
Culver City High School 's Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) presents "Music for the Holidays" on Tuesday, December 15 at the Robert Frost Auditorium ( 4401 Elenda Street ). Doors open at 6:30 pm with pre-concert entertainment by the Chamber Singers and Jazz Combo. The concert will begin at 7:00 pm . Admission is a suggested donation of $5 and up, but no one will be turned away. The annual winter concert, directed by Dr. Tony Spano and Lisa Michel, will feature the AVPA Chamber Singers and Jazz Ensemble, along with the Culver City...
Holiday Celebration to be held at Skirball Cultural Center, Sunday, December 20, 4 PM Join the Culver City Chamber Orchestra for a concert celebration featuring the works of Corelli and Vaughn Williams, plus Christmas and Chanukah songs. Listen to “T’was the Night before Christmas,” narrated by Philip Lester. The holiday celebration will include sing-a-longs and a special performance by a young musical troupe, the Mark Twain Ringers. The Mark Twain Ringers are under the direction of Mr. Ron Thiele who teaches English Handbells at Mark Twain...
