Los Angeles’ Red-Light Ticket Ripoff
In October, a piece of what looked like junk mail sent to me from a P.O. box turned out to contain grainy pictures of my car, license plate and face in the classic L.A.-driving-trance position. I’d been captured on camera doing a “California roll” while making a…
Panic, Despair and Revolution
And so another year comes to an end, and with it a decade (Gregorian contrarians notwithstanding) in which the answer to the question “What is cinema?” underwent more radical transmutations than in any comparable period since the dawn of moving images.
There was panic…
Filmmakers of the Decade: Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh spent much of the 1990s mired in a post–sex, lies and videotape cold streak. It didn’t thaw entirely until 2000, with the one-two punch of Erin Brockovich and Traffic. Both films netted stellar reviews, grossed a combined $…
Silencing Hawthorne High’s Music Man
For most of this decade, the Hawthorne High School drum line has arrived at competitions dressed in black, tuxedo-cut uniforms with the boys smartly extending their arms to escort the girls from the bus, where they leave behind their baggy jeans, sneakers, short skirts — an…
Still Not Sick of the Holiday?
Cabrillo Music Theatre presents Irving Berlin’s holiday musical classic.
Sat., Dec. 26, 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 27, 2 & 7 p.m.; Mon., Dec. 28, 2 p.m.; Tue., Dec. 29, 2 & 7 p.m., 2009…
RICKY DON’T LOSE THAT NUMBER
Premier prestidigitator Ricky Jay’s latest show, A Rogue’s Gallery — An Evening of Conversation and Performance, is one in which he opens up in such an expansive way that it’s not a trick. Directed by David Mamet, the show, which runs for only two weeks, is, as magic requires, something …
BOXING DAY PICK OF THE WEEK
Towering, glistening skyline? Check. Outdoor skating rink? Check. A revolving lineup of wildly eclectic entertainment provided free of charge? Check. What city is this, anyway? The Free Winter Music Series at Pershing Square is in full bloom, and there’s something for everyone. Today, it’s the Jumbo…
Truck vs. Church and State: Kogi Bites Back
Kogi Beatdown!
Wow! Little did our Squid Ink food blog editor, Amy Scattergood, know what she was getting into when she asked Church and State chef Walter Manzke a simple question, “Is there anything you won’t eat?” Manzke answered thusly and in the process …
LAPD Audit: Bratton’s fiscal mess
The city may not be as safe as the 1950s like Bill Bratton often boasted, but apparently the bookkeeping by the Escorts in Los Angeles Police Department is “stuck” in that decade, and a new and embarrassing audit is roiling City Hall — by explaining how bad things really a…
The polluter of Paradise Cove
For Steven Dahlberg, owner of the Paradise Cove Mobile Home Park, decades of allowing polluted runoff and leaking sewage into the Pacific Ocean paid off with an early Christmas present. In a season of shopping for discounts, Dahlberg just got a sweet markdown from Governor Arnold…