Some movies set out to be so ambitious they run the risk of collapsing in on their own expectations. Unfortunately, “World War Z” seems to perfectly fit into this category. Read more...
Arts
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June 22, 10:44 am
LA Film Festival Review: ‘Concussion’ and ‘The Spectacular Now’
Another day at the L.A. Film Festival brings me to remarkable debut film “Concussion,” a subtle, almost European in temperament film about lesbians and transgression, and “The Spectacular Now,” the much anticipated new film by the writers of “500 Days of Summer.” Miraculously, they manage to work the magic of “500 Days” again with “The Spectacular Now,” bringing the same sort of cliche-busting honesty to a genre (high school romance) chock full of eye-rolling formula. Read more...
Arts
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June 21, 11:51 am
LA Film Festival Reviews: ‘Casting By’ and ‘Only God Forgives’
The fourth day of my coverage of the LA Film Fest brings me to two very different films: “Casting By,” a fairly by-the-numbers documentary on the unsung heroes (casting directors) of the film industry, and “Only God Forgives,” a purposefully button-pushing gorefest by provocateur Nicholas Winding Refn, working again with “Drive” buddy Ryan Gosling. Read more...
Arts
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June 20, 8:54 am
LA Film Festival Reviews: ‘Europa Report’ and ‘Winter in the Blood’
My third day at the fest brings two not completely satisfying movies: the sci-fi “Prometheus” miniature “Europa Report” and the literary adaptation “Winter in the Blood.” As both were rather uninnovative, I was unimpressed, but depending on your affinity for genre film or literary fiction they could both plausibly please the right crowd. Read more...
Arts
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June 19, 11:28 am
LA Film Festival Reviews: ‘Crystal Fairy’ and ‘When I Saw You’
My second day of L.A. Film Festival coverage seems to continue the template of seeing one comedy and one “serious” movie, this time with Michael Cera drug movie “Crystal Fairy” and Jordanian movie “When I Saw You,” respectively. Read more...
Arts
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June 17, 3:16 pm
LA Film Festival Review: ‘In a World…’ and ‘The Act of Killing’
The Los Angeles Film Festival, set near Hollywood, is a 10-day festival featuring independent film from all over the world. Daily Bruin A&E columist Tony Huang will review movies from the festival throughout the week. Read more...
Arts, Lifestyle
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June 14, 1:16 pm
E3 debuts met with interest, controversy
Another Electronic Entertainment Expo has come and gone, bringing with it a taste of the new games that will be released in the coming year. A lot of interesting titles are making their way to the consumer, but as much as the convention focuses on upcoming games, the talk of the expo has probably got to be the consoles that made their official debut at E3 this year. Read more...