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Film

  • DVD Review: A FRENCH VILLAGE/UN VILLAGE FRANÇAIS (Season 6 on MHz Releasing)

    By Dale Reynolds | September 3, 2018
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    MORE HOPE FOR A FRENCH VILLAGE This extraordinary series continues its exploration of what the average French village went through during the German occupation (1940-45). In the six-episode Season Six, we watch the victors of the War putting on trial some of those who collaborated with the Nazis, in clear and non-hysterical scenes. One of…

  • Film: THE FIVE ALL-TIME GREATEST LOVE STORIES IN CINEMA

    By Mary Herd | August 23, 2018
    in

    THE FIVE ALL-TIME GREATEST MOVIES ABOUT LOVE STORIES These films containing classic romantic scenarios have been watched, reviewed, and discussed by our staff. Here are five recommendations for you and your friends. 1. Roman Holiday (1953) This fairy tale was filmed in Rome. So, it is not just imbued with the rich Italian sun, but…

  • Film and Music Review: STAR WARS IN CONCERT (Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl)

    By Tony Frankel | August 7, 2018
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    MAY THE HORNS BE WITH YOU As difficult as it may be to tear your eyes away from the giant screen at the Hollywood Bowl, try to espy the LA Phil brass section during the climactic battle scene of Star Wars: A New Hope, which plays this week in rep with Empire Strikes Back.  Bring your…

  • Event Preview: MOVIE NIGHTS AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL (Great Films Live in Concert)

    By Tony Frankel | July 19, 2018
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    MOVIES AND FILM SCORES THAT WILL BOWL YOU OVER You want something out of this world? Something you can really chomp on? Something that will sound even better on another inspection? Something that’s completely magic? Well, grease up your lederhosen, because here comes Movie Nights at the Hollywood Bowl, 2018. Because of his indelible film…

  • Los Angeles Film Review: THE 2018 MONTALBíN SUMMER MOVIE SERIES (The Montalbán Theatre)

    By Tony Frankel | July 2, 2018
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    THE MONTALBíN MIXES MOVIES, MINGLING AND MERRY MASTICATING Always fun, outdoor cinema hits the summer ether like the smell of fresh cut grass and smoked meat (or is that fresh cut meat and smoked grass?). There’s nothing quite like a balmy evening under the stars to experience that collective joy of watching a movie. And…

  • Theater & Film Preview: BANDSTAND (The Broadway Musical on Screen presented by Fathom Events)

    By John Todd | June 21, 2018
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    THE BOYS ARE BACK — BANDSTAND: THE BROADWAY MUSICAL ON SCREEN The Tony-winning musical Bandstand  will be screened nationwide for two nights next week.  Richard Oberacker and Robert Taylor’s ode to the 1940’s, musicians, and vets coming home from WWII won a Tony for director/choreographer  Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton) and his high-octane, heart-stopping, spectacular dancing.   The Boys Are Back…

  • Film Commentary: THE ANTI-HEROES OF THE CINEMA CASINO

    By Frank Arthur | April 21, 2018
    in

    THE ANTI-HEROES OF THE CINEMA CASINO In Hollywood, there are no heroes in films centered around the casino. Film-makers thrive when they focus on the seedier side of the industry, preferring their leading characters to display foibles and flaws to make them more interesting and frequently more desperate. Allow us to run through Hollywood’s five…

  • Film Review: BATTLE OF THE SEXES (directed by Jonathan Dayon and Vaerie Faris)

    By Frank Arthur | March 22, 2018
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    BATTLE OF THE SEXES IS BASED ON A TRUE STORY Battle of the Sexes is a stranger-than-fiction, inspiring story of how the tennis courts of America were the battleground for gender equality in sport. It is a 2017 biographic film focusing on a tennis match that took part in 1973 between Bobby Riggs and Billie…

  • DVD Review: THE COLLECTION (Season 1 on PBS)

    By Dale Reynolds | January 6, 2018
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    FASHION YOUR SEAT BELTS What is it about the fashion world that is such a turn-on, and also allows for compelling drama? Why do some of us kvell when new and ancient clothing designs enter into our psychic systems, but others turn away, bored and bewildered? Well, some of those questions may be answered by…

  • DVD Review: THE TUNNEL: SABOTAGE (PBS)

    By Dale Reynolds | December 30, 2017
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    TUNNEL VISION A continuation of the superb series that so far six countries have originated or adapted: Sweden/Denmark’s The Bridge (original and two sequels); America/Mexico’s The Bridge (only one season); and now the second season of the French/British adaptation, titled “Sabotage” — and there is a third in line. Two police departments from France and…

  • DVD Review: ICE MOTHER (directed by Bohdan Sláma)

    By Dale Reynolds | December 28, 2017
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    ICE GOING One of the Czech Republic’s best directors is Bohdan Sláma, whose latest film, “Ice Mother/Bába z ledu” is now released in the U.S.   The story, written by Sláma, is wry and telling of how age can make us invisible to others unless we make ourselves visible. Hana (Zuzana Kronerová) is 67, a widow,…

  • Los Angeles Music Review: WEST SIDE STORY: FILM WITH LIVE ORCHESTRA (LA Phil’s BERNSTEIN 100)

    By Tony Frankel | December 1, 2017
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    THE MUSIC PLAYING IS, INDEED, ALMOST LIKE PRAYING As is becoming increasingly popular, films with astounding soundtracks are being shown with just dialogue and sound effects while an orchestra plays the score live; it’s cost-effective for the presenting organization and offers the spectator the chance to hear live music while waxing nostalgic over a great…

  • Film Review: REBELS ON POINTE (directed by Bobbi Jo Hart)

    By Dale Reynolds | December 1, 2017
    in

    YOU SO TOTALLY TROCK This drag  documentary has been winning   plaudits and awards this year. And well it should. Bobbi Jo Hart’s 90-minute exploration of the internationally-known drag ballet company, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (affectionately known as The Trocks) is both a hoot and a revelation. Ms. Hart’s cinéma vérité documentary explores forty years…

  • DVD Review: THE UNDERTAKER / DER BESTATTER (MHz Releasing)

    By Dale Reynolds | November 18, 2017
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    UNDERTAKER SHOULD BE UNDERTAKEN This ongoing Swiss-German series, The Undertaker (Der Bestatter), is something of a rarity for the adventurous distributor, MHz Releasing: a serio-comic series about a former cop, Luc Conrad (Mike Mí¼eller), who has quit the force to take over his family’s funeral business, after his father has died, alongside his step-mother and…

  • Film Review: GOD’S OWN COUNTRY (directed by Francis Lee)

    By Dale Reynolds | November 16, 2017
    in

    JOHNNY-COME-LATELY Writer/Director Francis Lee has produced a fine timeless example of love’s rocky path in a contemporary setting. In the Northern part of England, the Laycock  area of Keighley  in West Yorkshire, we first meet early twentysomething Johnny Saxby (Josh O’Conner) vomiting into a toilet at his farm-home; apparently, one of many such retchings due to his…

  • DVD Review: BLUE EYES / BLŠ ÖGON (MHz Releasing)

    By Dale Reynolds | November 12, 2017
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    SCANDALOUS SWEDISH SERIES NOW AVAILABLE The Swedish 10-part political drama, Blue Eyes (Blå ögon), concerns an upcoming national election in which the dominant conservative party is beset with internal division, including the murder of one of their press reps, and the onset of a rightwing political group, The Security Party, which threatens their domination. The…

  • Los Angeles Film and Music Preview: LA BELLE ET LA BíŠTE (LA Opera at Theatre at the Ace Hotel)

    By Tony Frankel | October 18, 2017
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    GREAT OPERA, GREAT CINEMA, GREAT PARTY! A familiar fairy tale takes on a broader and deeper subject’”the transformative power of love and art. Jean Cocteau’s stunningly beautiful 1946 cinematic masterpiece is recast with an enchanting new soundtrack by Philip Glass. Not only is it one of Glass’s most accessible works, it may well be the…

  • London Theatre Preview: ANGELS IN AMERICA (National Theatre Live Screening)

    By Tony Frankel | July 19, 2017
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    ANGELS IN AMERICA APPROACHES In two sprawling works written in the 1980’s, Tony Kushner brought alive the American national scene of the 1980’s and early 1990’s, mixing raw naturalism with fantasy, dreams, visions, and hallucinations. It was, and remains today, a dazzling achievement that’s worth every minute of nearly eight hours of cumulative playing time….

  • Los Angeles Event Review: SING-A-LONG SOUND OF MUSIC (Hollywood Bowl)

    By Tony Frankel | June 27, 2017
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    THE HOLLYWOOD HILLS ARE ALIVE What do you get when you cross one of the most popular movies of all time with 17,000 Angelenos dressed up as nuns, telegram delivery boys, cuckoo clocks, and brown paper packages tied up with string–all of whom set off party poppers, wave fake edelweiss, and sing along with a…

  • Broadway Theater Preview: FALSETTOS (Screening in movie theaters nationwide beginning July 12, 2017)

    By Frank Arthur | June 26, 2017
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    FALSETTOS ON THE BIG SCREEN FROM BROADWAY: EVEN UP CLOSE, THERE’S NOT A FALSE NOTE The musical masterpiece Falsettos  follows Marvin, who struggles to create a tightknit family out of his eclectic array of core relationships (including his ex-wife, his new boyfriend, his adolescent son, his psychiatrist, and his neighbors (“who are lesbians from next door”)….

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