James Cameron has accomplished an amazing feat, having made not only the top, but the top two highest grossing films of all time – “Avatar” and “Titanic.” Read more...
Arts, Music
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August 5, 12:03 am
Mix of styles influence Noah and the MegaFauna
As a Los Angeles-based swing big band, Noah and the MegaFauna incorporates sounds ranging from acoustic gypsy jazz to indie rock and folk. Read more...
Photo: Noah Lit has come a long way since first playing with his former band, Oliver Future. Now in the process of recording a second album as frontman of Noah and the MegaFauna, he reflects on the path of his career thus far.
Arts, Music
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August 5, 12:01 am
Young student fiddles with old music styles of bluegrass, jazz
Connor Vance is a young man who speaks an old language. Read more...
Photo: Connor Vance, fiddler for The Dustbowl Revival, juggles studying musicology at UCLA and touring with his band. Interested in music since an early age, the bluegrass and jazz band gives Vance a satisfying outlet for his musical ideas and helps him apply his studies as he works through college.
Arts, Film & TV
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July 29, 12:29 am
UCLA student discusses role in ‘The Conjuring’
Moviegoers nationwide are being terrorized by “The Conjuring,” this summer’s latest horror blockbuster. Based on the accounts of two real-life families, “The Conjuring” recounts the tale of the Perrons as they move into their new Rhode Island farmhouse plagued with paranormal activity, and the Warrens, a pair of demonologists who move in to help the terrorized family. Read more...
Photo: Shanley Caswell plays Andrea Perron, the family’s eldest daughter, in “The Conjuring,” a horror film by James Wan.
Arts, Music
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July 29, 12:23 am
Graduate student strives to save Kichwa flute tradition
In some ways, the whistling, chanting and atonal flute melodies that pervade the Ecuadorian village of Kotama sound like tangled webs of rhythm that are difficult to understand. Read more...
Photo: Jessie Vallejo, a Ph.D. student who did fieldwork in Ecuador for her dissertation, found inspiration in the flute traditions of the people of Kotoma, a small village in Otavalo, Ecuador. The rich culture behind the music inspired her to produce a CD with the indigenous people, “¡Así Kotama! The Flutes of Otavalo, Ecuador.”
Arts, Arts Columns, Film & TV
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July 29, 12:17 am
Love or Hate: Does Alfonso Cuarón’s distinctive style fall flat?
Last week, a trailer for director Alfonso Cuarón’s new feature “Gravity” was released online, causing a stir among movie fanatics and casual moviegoers alike. The film, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, Cuarón’s first feature since 2006’s “Children of Men,” depicts the terrifying experience of two astronauts on a spacewalk disrupted by flying debris that destroys their shuttle. Read more...
Arts, Film & TV
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July 29, 12:11 am
Movie Review: ‘Blue Jasmine’
Woody Allen's recent output has been a mixed bag to say the least, so much so that any mildly diverting effort – à la 2011's “Midnight in Paris”– is enough for most to declare the comeback season in full swing. Read more...