Saturday, April 4



Pac-ing light

In one of the epic moments in “Spider-Man 2,” Doctor Octopus reaches skyward and proclaims, “The power of the sun… in the palm of my hand!” The Apple iPod may not be able to create a self-sustaining fusion reaction, but it is equally miraculous nonetheless. Read more...



Making films with phones

To discover the next frontier in digital filmmaking, one needn’t venture far ““ just take a look at your cellular phone. While plastic dinosaurs, yodeling custard, and garage bands may not seem like standard entertainment fare, Juliette Deinum, a UCLA alumna and cofounder of the “World’s Smallest Film Festival,” expects this new medium to explode in the United States as it has already in Asia and Europe. Read more...


Archive series revives Mexico's classic films

Boasting a history as old and illustrious as that of Hollywood, it’s a shame that Mexican cinema has been in a funk since the mid-1950s. With the exception of some noteworthy peaks in the ’70s and early ’90s, south-of-the-border cinema rode through most of the second half of last century on trite themes like cowboys, slapstick comedies and masked wrestlers. Read more...


Fowler's botanica exhibit offers culture, spirituality

UCLA’s Fowler Museum Director Marla Berns describes the dizzying array of candles, statues and other ritualistic items that make up a re-creation of an authentic Los Angeles botanica as “visually seductive.” “Botanica Los Angeles: Latino popular religious art in the city of angels,” was created by visiting professor and curator, Patrick Polk. Read more...