Sometimes it’s just an honor to be not quite nominated. Just ask UCLA graduate film student Ham Tran. Tran’s short film “The Anniversary” fell barely short of one of five nominations for this year’s Academy Awards after being selected as one of 10 finalists in the Best Live-Action Short category. Read more...

Modern architecture doesn’t have to resemble the minimalist décor of the W Hotel in Westwood, as Jason Payne and Heather Roberge well know. Instead of decorating a room with nothing but a coffee table, these two artists take an unconventional approach, mixing various shapes and colors straight out of Dr. Read more...

Ani DiFranco “Educated Guess” Righteous Babe For those who have yet to be won over by Ani DiFranco’s unapologetic lyrics and stabbingly melodic voice, here’s your 21st chance to realize the woman has too much creativity to ever even want to sound like anybody else. Read more...

With its masterful combination of melodic hooks, guitar crunch and popish keyboards, the rock band The Pale is finally achieving well-deserved success and popularity. And refreshingly, the band is not jaded. Read more...

Among the inventors of the tribute album, UCLA artist-in-residence Hal Willner knew what to expect from a live equivalent. “Before any goddamn critic says it ““ yes, the best thing is the original, which was last night “¦ AND WE KNOW THAT! Read more...

“Summertime,” now playing at Macgowan Little Theatre through Feb. 7, is the quintessential Charles Mee concoction. One part piña colada and two parts bordering-psychotic fever dream, the maverick playwright’s kinky-sexy tribute to love and the power of passion is unapologetic and relentless in the way it peels away at each layer of the mystery of what it is to feel and live with an utmost fullness of being. Read more...

After a half-hour sandwiched between strangers in the crowded Viper Room, Rich Robinson and his band finally took the stage. With the Black Crowes on hiatus, Robinson has begun a solo project ““ a guitar-driven quartet with a keyboardist that plays familiar-sounding classic rock. Read more...