Up on the roof: summer movies at The Montalbán
Apr
10
2023
It’s a fun and cool thing to do. It’s Rooftop Movies at The Montalbán where a summer screening series kicked off the other night with The Greatest Showman, the Hugh Jackman/Michelle Williams movie-musical we had never seen. We had a ball. You can have one too. It goes like this. Find your way to the vaunted ...
Lauren Lovette ‘Dreamachine’ for Paul Taylor Dance Company soon at Music Center
Apr
10
2023
lauren lovette, choreographerphoto: erin baiano One piece of the esteemed Paul Taylor Dance Company‘s three-work program at the Los Angeles Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion the final weekend of April has our special interest. It’s a world premiere, first of all. That’s a big deal — and an honor for Los Angeles. But it’s the ...
Go celestial! jazz & classical music series at Mt. Wilson Observatory
Apr
6
2023
Who knew, beyond being a gateway to the heavens, that Mt. Wilson Observatory also has fine acoustics! (I didn’t.) To the ears of cognoscenti, the 100-inch dome is a 20th century temple to science with acoustics akin to the great cathedrals of Europe. There, a live music performance-series has taken place over the last five ...
How to blow up a pipeline – and blow your mind
What end justifies the means? If the end is radical environmental change and the survival of our planet, can violence be justified? In actions against private property, what if life is lost? How To Blow Up a Pipeline, the new eco-political film from Neon, directed and co-written by Daniel Goldhaber (whose last film was the ...
A sculptor’s inner life: Michelle Williams in Kelly Reichardt’s ‘Showing Up’ 2
I was entranced by the generically titled, but otherwise awfully good example of ‘slow cinema,’ Showing Up, directed by down-to-earth filmmaker Kelly Reichardt. This movie, opening April 7, is made by a woman artist; it concerns a woman artist, who is played by Michelle Williams, one of the foremost actresses of our time, in her ...
Charming ‘Moving On’ cast has celebratory premiere-party
the great lily tomlin The new comedy from Roadside Attractions, produced, written, and directed by Paul Weitz (About a Boy; executive producer of Pinocchio) concerns Claire (Jane Fonda) and Evelyn (Lily Tomlin), two estranged friends who meet at the funeral of a third. The two ladies cart decades of baggage — and its not by ...
Charles Lloyd’s ecstatic melody on his 85th
On the cusp of Charles Lloyd’s 85th birthday—we’ll join the master in celebration at Saturday’s live performance at The Soraya—the acclaimed tenor saxophonist and flutist stands at the summit of jazz. A master improviser whose musical ethos was forged in the crucible of 1960s musical freedom, Lloyd has been a restless and unpredictable explorer on ...
Jonathan Baker’s lively Oscars viewing party 2023 honors Paul Sorvino
Mar
15
2023
Gotham Chandna, Jonathan Baker, Nicole Muj Consul General of Croatia in Los Angeles Renee Pea Sweet Magnolia’s Anneliese Judge & Caroline Lagerfelt Jonathan Baker’s Annual Oscar Viewing Party, presented in collaboration with French Riviera Film Festival and Indie Entertainment Media was held on the eve of March 12 at Baker Manor in Beverly Hills — ...
Wheeldon doubles-down in Southern California events of fascination
Mar
7
2023
Photos by Reed Hutchinson/Los Angeles Ballet It’s a veritable festival of choreography by the Briton Christopher Wheeldon in the next weeks in Southern California. Neatly, the presentations will all spool under the watchful eyes of female artistic directors, Melissa Barak at the Los Angeles Ballet and Susan Jaffe at American Ballet Theatre. That fact alone ...
REVIEW: ‘Champions’ wins at ‘all the feels’
As a feel-good movie, Champions, the winsome new basketball comedy directed by Bobby Farrelly and starring Woody Harrelson, does its job; it consistently dispenses good feelings. Presented by Focus Features with a screenplay by Mark Rizzo, it’s a remake of the celebrated 2018 Spanish film Campeones by Javier Fesser. This American version (I have yet ...