Let choreographer Laura Karlin decorate your home
May
16
2017
I very much enjoyed Invertigo Dance Theatre founder/choreographer Laura Karlin‘s “Interior Design,” a high point of the vigorous opening night of the Los Angeles Dance Festival last weekend. Hosted by director Deborah Brockus at the cozy Theatre Raymond Kabbaz, this year’s festival offered a parade of Los Angeles dance companies the opportunity to display their ...
Kim Basinger, Guy Pearce pay tribute to ‘L.A. Confidential’ director Curtis Hanson
May
10
2017
”He was my friend. I loved the man,” said actress Kim Basinger of film director Curtis Hanson, who died tragically at a too-young age in September 2016. Basinger’s two films for Hanson included L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (1997) and 8 MILE (2002). The super slender blonde, a down-home stunner, sparkled alongside co-star Guy Pearce in a joint ...
‘Starring Europe’ top film picks: from France, from Italy
May
10
2017
Well, they all look so good, don’t they? The fourth annual European film festival in Los Angeles, Starring Europe: New Films from the EU, kicked off with a swinging red carpet/gala reception in the peerless courtyard of Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre last night. Remarks prior to the opening-night feature, MELLOW MUD, a Latvian film, indicate that ...
Opens tonight! STARRING EUROPE filmfest
May
9
2017
Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland and Spain. Wouldn’t you just love to get on a slow boat and visit them all? Boat trip perhaps not necessary. Nor a flight ticket. Starting tonight, Tuesday May 9 and running through May 15, the American Cinematheque will host ...
Review: Kyle Abraham’s superlative A.I.M. @ The Broad Stage
Only a handful of contemporary choreographers could pull off an evening of the magnitude and excellence that Kyle Abraham did last night, together with his 8-member dance company, Abraham.in.Motion, at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. For this type of presentation, that featuring the voice of a single choreographer, Kyle is now kyng. He’s keeping ...
California dreamin’ gone haywire
May
5
2017
“I’m definitely playing with the juxtaposition of art and garbage,” says artist Jeff Gillette of his upcoming exhibit at Gregorio Escalante gallery. “As a pessimist observing what’s happening in the world right now, I’m posing questions, ‘What is any of this worth?’ and ‘How do we choose what and how we ascribe worth to things?’ ...
Now’s the time … for Kyle
May
3
2017
Because he has such stellar musical chops, choreographer Kyle Abraham will undoubtedly dig the allusion to Charlie Parker’s be-bop anthem “Now’s the Time.” The title of Bird’s composition resonates like a call to action. Abraham, like Parker, is very much an artist of his time. Abraham’s swell dance company, Abraham.In.Motion, will perform this weekend at ...
Honoring Curtis Hanson: actress Kim Basinger @ ‘Confidential’ screening
May
3
2017
In a tribute to Oscar-winning writer-director Curtis Hanson, who sadly passed away in September 2016, lovely actress Kim Basinger will appear in person for a 20th anniversary screening of the film noir masterpiece, L.A. Confidential (1997) hosted by Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series. Basinger’s luminous, Oscar-winning performance as a hooker with a heart, ...
Humor, love of life power Claude Lelouch’s ‘Chacun Sa Vie’
Apr
30
2017
I just loved the opening-night feature film of COLCOA, the French film festival in Los Angeles. Everyone’s Life, blessed by a French title, Chacun sa vie had its north American premiere with its master-director, Claude Lelouch, in the house. It’s a great title — and so apt isn’t it? Because in the end (asserts Lelouch, the ...
Worldly actress Jacqueline Bisset honored at COLCOA
Apr
30
2017
A gorgeous crystal vase and heartfelt congratulations to the British-born actress Jacqueline Bisset, bilingual, bicultural, and in every way a screen stunner. Bisset was honored with the 2017 Prix Alliance Française presented by Christophe Lemoine Consul General of France in Los Angeles on April 27, 2017. The ceremony took place at the annual COLCOA French film ...