Sorted by date Results 604 - 628 of 1156
Audiences will discover endless riches when an extraordinary lineup of stories from the Disney Vault come to life for the ultimate Disney animation celebration with the delightful production, Disney On Ice presents Treasure Trove – Presented by Stonyfield YoKids Organic Yogurt. Disney On Ice sets the gold standard with its skating spectacular spanning tales from the first full-length animated film to the 50th Disney film, playing the Southland from April 13-24 at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario and Long Beach Arena. Hit the ice w...
How can anyone pass up a Kevin Costner film where his character of Jerico Stewart reads like a combination of that in "Mr. Brooks" and "3 Days to Kill"? Then toss in Ryan Reynolds, Gary Oldman, Gal Gadot and Tommy Lee Jones with a script by David Weisberg and Douglas Cook and the directorial eye of Ariel Vromen who last brought us "The Iceman". Quite simply, you can't. A unique take on a CIA spy thriller with a Frankenstonian spin, CRIMINAL is a hard hitting, tech-savvy, high octane adrenaline...
Lots of good stuff opening in theatres this week, as well as on a concurrent digital/VOD platform, including the much anticipated Disney's THE JUNGLE BOOK. Normally, I would devote full coverage to this Disney film, but given the review embargos were lifted some time ago and reviews have been flooding the marketplace leading up to the April 15th release, we're going to look at some of the unsung winners of the week in this column today. But, suffice to say, when it comes to THE JUNGLE BOOK, it i...
Seems appropriate to go from Christopher Walken voicing King Louie to Christopher Walken being, well, Christopher Walken, in the charming comedy ONE MORE TIME. Paul Lombard was a star back in the day. Crooning a-la Sinatra he had hit after hit after hit. But as happens with time, the fans disappear. Not content to sit back and watch time pass him by, Paul spends his night secretly updating his Wikipedia page with more glowing adjectives than stars in the heavens. Ever the egotist, rationalizing...
Kentwood Players will present "Clybourne Park" by Bruce Norris from May 13 through June 18 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm at the Westchester Playhouse, 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester. The production is directed by George L. Rametta and produced by Lauren A. Jarvis by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service. Inc. The cast features (in alphabetical order) Pauline Bugembe, Harold Dershimer, Jeremy Patrick Hamilton, Jen Kerner, Matt Landig, Damon Rutledge, and...
Can't get enough Amber Heard? Then make sure you catch THE ADDERALL DIARIES where she's paired up with none other than James Franco. Written and directed by Pamela Romanowsky based on the book by Stephen Elliott, "Memoir of Moods, Masochism, and Murder", James Franco takes center stage as the flawed but fascinating unreliable memorist Stephen Elliott, a best-selling author who is forced to confront the truth about his past when a father he has written as being dead and having abused Elliott as a...
Rehearsals have begun for Samuel Beckett's classic "Endgame," directed by one of Beckett's most renowned interpreters Alan Mandell at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, April 24 through May 22. The opening is scheduled for May 1. Mandell ("Waiting for Godot," "The Price" and "The Cherry Orchard" all at the Mark Taper Forum) will also perform in this production at the Douglas alongside Barry McGovern ("I'll Go On" at the Douglas; "Waiting for Godot" at the Mark Taper...
I'm betting the original London Bridge, built in 1830 and once spanning the River Thames, is pretty happy it now sits here in the United States in Lake Havasu City, because if still in London, it would have fallen victim along with every other landmark and historical site populating the city in the latest action sequel to hit the big screen, LONDON HAS FALLEN. Explosive non-stop action takes center stage as London is destroyed, and all the leaders of the western world (but for the US President)...
Leave it to Jean-Marc Vallee to deliver yet another emotionally intense and introspective character driven film. Leave it to Jake Gyllenhaal to once again put his chameleonic skill set to use to deliver yet another indelible and unforgettable performance. A film that goes against the emotional grain, toying with our own unspoken fears about "what if" and "waiting for the other shoe to drop", DEMOLITION manipulates, shocks and examines in a tapestry of unpredictability that is unusual, funny, emo...
Anyone who seen writer/director Deon Taylor’s freshman film, “Supremacy”, has been awed by the power and strength of the heavy dramatic themes rising from the a racially motivated true story. Many, including myself, have anxiously awaited his follow-up film curious to see what Taylor would deliver next. That wait is now over. And I am here to tell you, MEET THE BLACKS is nothing at all like “Supremacy”. Going from the darkest depths of the souls of men, Taylor reaches the opposite extreme w...
Kentwood Players will hold open auditions for the comedy “Olive and the Bitter Herbs” by Charles Busch on Saturday, May 14 from 10 am to 2 pm and Sunday, May 15 from 6 pm to 10 Callbacks will take place on Monday, May 16 beginning at 7 pm by invitation only. This is a non-equity, non-paid production directed by Kirk Larson and produced by Lori A. Marple Pereslete by special arrangement with Samuel French. Performance dates are July 8 through August 13 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm. Auditions and performances take pla...
Stop the presses now with all the awards talk for Leonardo DiCaprio and his performance as 1820's frontier man Hugh Glass in Alejandro Inarritu's THE REVENANT. There are two more notable and deserving performances that command, and demand, greater attention; that of Mother Nature herself, and Tom Hardy. Why no one is talking Tom Hardy for awards consideration for his role is beyond me. His performance in THE REVENANT is so textured with emotional range and nuance, with the primal forces of life...
Launched as a 99-seat production at the Lillian Theatre, where it played to SRO houses and critical acclaim, Recorded in Hollywood, the new musical chronicling the story of black businessman, record label owner and music producer John Dolphin, will receive a commercial run as a guest production at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. The new production is led by Lou Spisto, former executive producer of San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre and producer on Broadway and London’s West End, and Jamelle Dolphin, the grandson of John Dolphin who has ste...
Still in the midst of spring break and with baseball season fast upon us, it’s a moviegoing grand slam this week with everything from a biopic on an American institution, Hank Williams, to a foul-mouthed, hard talking, stuck-in-the-past Olympic bronze medalist comedy to the tenderness of a young woman with Asperger’s looking for love to a look at one aspect of the greatest American pastimes, baseball. First up to the plate. . . FASTBALL Justin Verlander. Sandy Koufax. Bob Gibson. Bob Feller. Wal...
The Culver City Chamber Orchestra will be presenting a “Family Concert” on April 10 at 4 p.m. at Culver Palms United Methodist Church, 4464 Sepulveda Blvd.featuring Usha Kapoor 18 (Colburn Conservatory) and Vera Kim 12, violinists. Also included will be The West Coast Premiere of Ms. Deon Price’s (Culver City longtime resident) Triple Flute Concerto with flutists Johana Borenstein, Victoria Batt and Rachel Mellis. Admission is $20 adults, Seniors and Students with ID. $15. Children $10. Children under seven free. Culver City Chamber Orche...
THE CONFIRMATION Clive Owen is always a welcome presence in any film, but particularly in one as smartly subtle and engaging as Bob Nelson’s THE CONFIRMATION, and in which Owen shares the screen with (and is often upstaged by) one of the greatest young talents of the next generation, Jaeden Lieberher. THE CONFIRMATION is quietly moving, laced with the humor and pain inherent to life. A beautiful character study in the dynamics of a father and son, the chemistry between Owen and Lieberher is m...
[NOTE: While I have made every effort to keep this review spoiler-free, for a completely pure viewing experience of STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, wait to read this review or any other until after you have seen the film. Trust me. You won't regret it!] Fall in love anew with old friends. Embrace the new. Ride the roller coaster of adventure complete with thrills and chills that make your heart pound and your face smile from ear to ear with more than a few tears thrown in for good measure. Marvel...
¬¬Introducing the song "New York, New York" to audiences worldwide in its 1944 Broadway de-but, Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins' classic American musical On the Town is coming to Culver City. The spring production of AVPA's Blurred Vision Theatre Company, directed by Jill Novick, will run March 11-13 and March 18-19 in the Robert Frost Auditorium at Culver City High. An instant hit that has enjoyed multiple revivals, On the Town follows the story of three sailors on 24-hour leave in New Y...
The West Coast premiere of Sheila Callaghan’s madcap new play “Women Laughing Alone With Salad” opens Sunday, March 13 at 6:30 p.m. at Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. Directed by Neel Keller, with musical staging by Ken Roht, performances for “Women Laughing Alone With Salad” continue through April 3. (Previews began on March 6.) The cast includes Lisa Banes (“Gone Girl,” the film; “Present Laughter,” Broadway) Nora Kirkpatrick (founding member of the Grammy-winning band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros; “Pi...
Lou Gramm, the voice of Foreigner, will make a stop on March 19 at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills as he continues on with his solo concert tour. One of the greatest singers in rock music with distinctive vocals, Gramm placed Foreigner among Billboard’s top artists of all time. Their 16 Billboard Top 40 hit songs defined an era. Top 10 hits that made Gramm famous are “I Want to Know What Love Is,” “Double Vision,” “Cold As Ice,” “Head Games,” “Juke Box Hero,” “Blue Morning,” “Hot Blooded,...
Further casting has been announced for Samuel Beckett's masterful "Endgame," directed by one of Beckett's most celebrated interpreters Alan Mandell at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City April 24 through May 22. The opening is scheduled for May 1. Mandell ("Waiting for Godot," "The Price" and "The Cherry Orchard" all at the Mark Taper Forum) will also perform at the Douglas with Barry McGovern ("I'll Go On" at the Douglas; Rick Cluchey was originally announced as part of...
Despite what is being touted of late, let it never be said that there isn't diversity in filmmaking. And contrary to the "forced" diversity which many film festival directors, programmers and controlling guilds and academies are of late trying to force feed to the industry and public alike, the diversity I am seeing in many films is genuine, and reflects not only a diversity of issues and topics and performers in front of the camera, but directorial craftsmanship and artistry that rings true of...
The cast is set and rehearsals are underway for the West Coast premiere of Sheila Callaghan's madcap new play "Women Laughing Alone With Salad," opening March 13 at the Center Theatre Group/Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. Directed by Neel Keller and choreographed by Ken Roht, previews for "Women Laughing Alone With Salad" begin March 6 and performances continue through April 3. The cast includes Lisa Banes ("Gone Girl," the film; "Present Laughter," Broadway) Nora Kirkpatrick (founding...
The kid in me fell in love with Panda Po back in 2008 when "Kung Fu Panda" was released. Charming, funny and filled with action and antics led to pure entertainment, while introducing us to what have become beloved characters premised on a goose named Mr. Ping raising an abandoned young Panda named Po. Wonderful thematics and messaging about family and friends. When "Kung Fu Panda 2" rolled around in 2011, I watched it with my two younger nephews, with the 5-year old writing his own review of...
Many may know the grainy black and white images of Jesse Owens’ triumphant quadruple-gold medal performance at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, but do they know the story behind it? Those images, captured by German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, were the first ever televised, the first that the world saw being broadcast, the first that any beings light years away will ever see of Earth and its inhabitants. Knowing the importance of Riefenstahl’s camera, and how Germany would be viewed by the wor...
