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In “Eclipsed,” a tormenting yet humorous new play by Danai Gurira ("In the Continuum") at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, the theme of survival during the bleakest of circumstances is driven home. Gurira's revelatory work, set during the brutal 2003 Liberian civil war, takes a powerful look at the travails of African women treated as human chattel. Based on interviews that Gurira conducted in Africa, "Eclipsed" examines the plights of women captured and held in a battlefront camp as...
On Saturday, September 19, 15 students from Culver City High School's (CCHS) Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) Film Department met at the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival, where they won top prize in the High School Film category. The student film, “The Harry Hastings Method,” was directed by 2009 graduate Josh Blake and produced by current Culver City High senior Duncan Ballantine, who was also the film’s cinematographer. The film was created during the 2008-2009 school year and premiered at Culver City High Schoo...
We are so used to seeing films with a predictable plot line of mother wrangling unruly child or lonely miserable single mother trying to befriend her single child that we forget there are single dads out there, too. However, when we do see them, they are generally divorced, a part-time only dad, and a girlfriend inevitably enters into the mix. Which is exactly what makes THE BOYS ARE BACK so refreshing, so enjoyable, so emotional and so entertaining, as it is the complete antithesis of these...
In partnership with MOCA’s education department, artist Elana Mann and students from Culver City Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) will present an interactive performance entitled Retirement Bash on Saturday, October 24 at the Culver City Senior Center. The culminating event of a 10-week workshop, Retirement Bash performatively “retires” outdated paradigms by introducing/inventing new sayings, symbols, images, and mottos. Having examined the ways in which the contemporary artists represented in MOCA’s "Collecting History: Highlig...
Akron, Ohio native turned long time Culver City resident, Kristopher Belman is a filmmaker with ethics, integrity, humility and talent. Always wanting to make movies, Kris had long been interested in a story that began in Akron, Ohio. A story involving legendary high school basketball coach, Dru Joyce, and some young, once unknown basketball players named Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce III, Willie McGee, Romeo Travis and a guy named LeBron. As little kids, Sian, Little Dru, Willie and LeBron played...
What man writes a script - a comedy no less - that has a character who gets his testicles blown off? A woman writing it, I would believe. But a guy? Well, leave it to Mike Judge, the brains behind "Beavis & Butthead", "Office Space" and "Idiocracy", to do just that. A man who you might call obsessed with the thought of his own testicles being blown off, to hear Mike Judge tell it, seems a perfectly normal concept. "When I was in high school, for science fair I actually made an x-ray machine,...
Charlize Theron: Oscar Winner. Kim Basinger: Oscar Winner. Guillermo Arriaga: Golden Globe Winner and Oscar Nominee. Robert Elswit: Oscar Winner. John Toll: Double Oscar Winner. It is the collaborative effort of these great talents and more, that bring emotion, depth, intrigue and life to Guillermo Arriaga’s latest story of love and redemption. Probably best known as the Oscar nominated screenwriter of “Babel”, “21 Grams” and “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada”, Arriaga now steps behind th...
Nothing warms the heart like a good laugh, and there are laughs aplenty in the Kentwood Players’ handsome new production of Charles Busch's Tale of the Allergist's Wife. Busch built his reputation writing cutting-edge off-Broadway spoofs that showcased his brilliant drag performances, so it was a surprise to many when he cooked-up this mainstream comedy almost a decade ago. It wowed the critics, moved to Broadway, racked up a slew of Tony nominations and ran for well over 700 performances. T...
The West Coast premiere of Danai Gurira’s “Eclipsed” opens Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City Directed by Robert O’Hara, “Eclipsed,” continues through October 18. “Eclipsed,” a compelling portrait of transformation and renewal, is set in 2003 during Liberia’s vicious civil war and follows the lives of a rebel commanding officer’s “wives” as the women form a tightly-knit community and struggle for a degree of humanity in a hostile war zone. Their world is soon affected, however, by the arrival o...
I have long enjoyed much of Tyler Perry’s work. Generally one of the token Caucasian press at screenings or press junkets, I have often felt Perry’s work has elevated beyond that of a stereotypical caricature African-American and successfully crossed over into every demographic with character traits relatable to every ethnicity, demographic and religion. More than anything, though, I find his characterizations more deeply rooted in Southern culture and religion, a point on which my very Sou...
According to QuentinTarantino, without finding Christopher Waltz, there would have been no INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS. It was essential to Tarantino to cast actors with impeccable linguistic skills to match equally superlative acting talents. He found both in Christopher Waltz. Humble to a fault, Waltz’s sincerity and generosity of spirit illuminate the room on being told of Tarantino’s praises. "There is nothing that I can say about that. How could I possibly. How can you comment on a compliment lik...
Let’s not beat around the bush. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS is glorious!!!!! The film is so enjoyable, so entertaining, so smartly written, so well crafted, so beautifully lensed and so well acted that I didn’t want it to end. This is without a doubt the best film of Quentin Tarantino’s career and one of the best pictures of 2009, not to mention making it into my Top 50 all time faves. That little golden guy named Oscar will definitely come knocking at this door with nominations aplenty starting with...
How many of you out there don’t know who George Hamilton is? Betcha most of you are more than familiar with him. Some generations may remember Hamilton as an okay actor from Hollywood’s golden years in the 50's. Others, for his fun and devil-may-care persona he exhibited during the 70's celebrity game show blitzkrieg. Most recently, you may know him for his very entertaining stint on “Dancing With The Stars”, an over-the-top hysterically funny performance in “L.A. Riot Spectacular” or his self...
Things will definitely get a little bit loud with the rockumentary IT MIGHT GET LOUD, a sit down with three generations of rock legends, guitarists Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), The Edge (U2) and Jack White (White Stripes). Three very different gentlemen. Three very different backgrounds. Three very different styles. One common passion. This is one room in rock ‘n roll heaven. Director Davis Guggenheim could have done no better than his subject selection so Page, White and The Edge. Each represents...
A modest man, Louie Psihoyos may downplay accolades bestowed upon him for the excellence of his film, THE COVE, but one thing he is not shy about is his passion for the environment. To him, it is a top priority for all of us to be concerned about the Earth and the causal relationships between man and nature. Technically, THE COVE is a superlative piece of filmmaking and is os such high caliber on all fronts, I expect not only Academy Award nominations, but Oscar gold to be placed into...
You all probably remember, or at least know of, the beloved television series "Flipper." An integral part of the success of "Flipper" was Richard O’Barry who, in the 1960's was the world’s leading authority on dolphin training. The Flipper lagoon, dock and house was actually O’Barry’s and it’s where he trained and cared for the dolphins who took turns playing Flipper. Well cared for and free to swim in open waters, it all came to a screeching halt with the cancellation of the tv show and the dol...
Powerful. Impressive. Visceral. Heartbreaking. Humbling. Inspiring. You all probably remember, or at least know of, the beloved television series "Flipper." An integral part of the success of "Flipper" was Richard O’Barry who, in the 1960's was the world’s leading authority on dolphin training. The Flipper lagoon, dock and house was actually O’Barry’s and it’s where he trained and cared for the dolphins who took turns playing Flipper. Well cared for and free to swim in open waters, it all came...
This time around, I just have to give you the answer before you even ask the question. In short, the answer is “YES” to THE ANSWER MAN! I love this movie! As soon as it was over, I wanted to see it again. More importantly, I would love to revisit the characters in this film. First time writer/director John Hindman has certainly found the answer for a winning combination in a film with THE ANSWER MAN. From the indefatigable emotional roller coaster of Jeff Daniels as Arlen Faber to the com...
Venice, California locatile Lori Petty, has conquered the silver screen with her indelible performances like Kit Keller in "A League of Their Own" or Tank Girl in, well, "Tank Girl." She dazzled on the small screen as well producing and starring in the tv hit "Lush Life" on Fox and made her mark on Broadway back in the 90's. An accomplished painter, in March 2008 she had a solo exhibit of her work at the Deborah Page Gallery in Santa Monica in follow-up to her earlier one-woman show at 72...
It is a real privilege and pleasure for me to bring you my review of SEVERED WAYS: THE NORSE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, a film which debuted at Los Angeles Film Festival in 2007 and which was one of my "Must See Festival Films" as well as a hot contender in the Narrative Feature competition. Just to show all you filmmakers out there that festivals do garner distribution deals, SEVERED WAYS now makes its way into theatres starting July 17, 2009. Slightly off-beat and definitely not what one would...
As we all know (or should know), July 19, 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of "one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the moon. Kicking off the 40th anniversary year last summer was the enchanting 3D animated fantasy film on that infamous mission, FLY ME TO THE MOON, that combined history, complete with NASA technology, blue print drawings, audio and Dr. Buzz Aldrin himself, with a fanciful tale of three...
Stealing the hearts of everyone who has sees this film, DEAR LEMON LIMA is the most charming, genuine, cute, sweet and utterly adorable film!!!!!! Cotton candy colored joy. As soon as the film ended, I wanted to see it again. The film makes your heart smile. DEAR LEMON LIMA is the story of Vanessa Lemor, a lonely 13 year old living in Alaska. Her father is from the Yup’ik Eskimo tribe and her mother a plain old Caucasian, making Vanessa somewhat of a halfbreed and the brunt of jokes by the k...
In what has become one of the most controversial films to hit the big screen, even without a distribution deal, is Fredrik Gertten’s BANANAS!* Originally slated as a competitor in the Documentary Category of the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival , due to pressure from the Dole Food Company, the film was pulled from competition but still included in the Fest as a special screening. A last minute decision by LAFF also pulled the film from eligibility for the all important Audience Award. Directed b...
Lynn Shelton has managed to do what few of the fairer sex have accomplished - infiltrate the psyche of the male species. (Yes, amazing as it may seem, men do have a psyche...and it may even be located above the waist!) And thanks to this insightful wisdom, with HUMPDAY, Shelton brings us an uproariously funny, rollicking romp into the world of bromance by way of the fictional porn film festival known as “Hump Fest”. Now, I know, when you hear the word “humpday” you think of Wednesday, that da...
I still remember the very first” meal” that I ever cooked for someone. It was in my first apartment and for my favorite former Marine - hot dogs boiled in water and green beans with almond silvers. (Strange, I know, but one doesn’t argue with the taste buds of a Marine.) Not the greatest culinary master except when under the tutelage of my grandmother cooking or baking, I burned the hot dogs - and I mean burned. An event warranting a reminder over 30 years later, you can imagine my horror, and h...
