“Horror” is a surprisingly loose term in Hollywood nowadays – where one “Paranormal Activity” provides shocks and scares, “Insidious” focuses on the genre’s subtlety. Where a “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” reboot fails at its 3D, masked villain element, a “Scary Movie” sequel fails with monsters more Charlie Sheen-like in appearance. Read more...

Concert movies in today’s cinema are notably ingenuous. The behind-the-scenes material of films such as “One Direction: This is Us” seems staged and appears like just another stop ontheir PR campaign. Read more...

Even in a city as industry intensive as Los Angeles, there can be a certain mystique to the working processes of Hollywood film and TV. “The Write Stuff: Your Future in Television,” a panel of UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television alumni who’ve worked in television, aimed to dispel that mystique by providing answers to one of the most elusive and attractive questions: How does one break into the business? Read more...

Photo: On Wednesday, Melnitz Hall’s James Bridges Theater was host to “The Write Stuff.” A panel of UCLA TFT alumni in the writing industry answered questions on how to succeed in the television business.

It's been a banner year for American cinemas and sex, arriving at a point where anything worth talking about in film (or so it seems) has to do with this curious new obsession with the flesh. Read more...

New thriller “Prisoners” keeps its audience alert and anxious while spinning every parent’s worst fear: a child gone missing. The film keeps an intense tone while presenting a carefully crafted plot that grips viewers with both its intelligence and terror. Read more...

With the innumerable remakes, reboots and sequels deluging Hollywood recently, “Riddick,” the third installment in the “Riddick” series, warrants anticipatory disappointment. However, “Riddick” proves to be an exception, never rising above expectations for a summer action movie but still remaining an enjoyable distraction. Read more...

Leaving El Paso, Texas, five years ago, Iliana Sosa knew she would one day return to her hometown. But what she did not know was she would return to produce an award-winning thesis film. Read more...

Photo: “Child of the Desert” follows a mother traveling to the final resting site of her military son, befriending a Spanish-speaking immigrant along the way.