By Susan JAMES The Los Angeles Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising celebrates the Oscars with its 28th annual exhibition of Oscar-nominated costume designs running through March 21. Free to the public, the exhibition features over 100 costumes from 30 outstanding 2019 films including the five Oscar nominees. The biggest issue the exhibition raises is […]
By Susan JAMES For those fans of revenge porn where cartoon crafting allows guilt-free enjoyment of taking out the bad guy(s), “The Rhythm Section” is for you. Based on a thriller by Mark Burnell and directed by Reed Morano, the film tells the story of a young British woman named Stephanie Patrick who is on […]
By Susan JAMES After 42 years, nine films and multiple iterations for television, the “Star Wars” saga is fairly familiar to a great number of people. “The Rise of Skywalker,” which presumably brings the Skywalker saga full circle, is like a Christmas tree. You know it’s dead but there are so many shiny objects, colored […]
By Susan JAMES Just an hour’s flight from LA lies the small town of Gilbert, Arizona. Hiding in plain sight only 20 miles southwest of Phoenix, this desert gem is the family getaway/weekend escape you’ve been looking for. And don’t be fooled by its size; Gilbert offers cutting edge attractions. There’s live music everywhere, from […]
By Susan JAMES Caught by its brightly-colored wrappings – movie posters, stills, previews – Emma Thompson’s new Christmas extravaganza seems as if it’s focused on channeling the seasonal flavor of her last highly successful Christmas film foray – “Love Actually” from 2003. The nation, however, remains divided on that particular movie. There are those who […]
On Wednesday, Nov. 6 from 12:10 p.m. to 12:40 p.m., the Free Admission Glendale Noon Concerts will feature Dr. Dimitry Olevsky performing the Partita in D minor for solo violin by J.S. Bach at the Sanctuary of Glendale City Church. Violinist Olevsky holds a doctorate of musical arts from UC Santa Barbara under the tutelage […]
By Susan JAMES Angelina Jolie was born to be a movie star. She grabs the attention of an audience in any scene in which she appears. But even the Jolie charisma can’t create gold from lead and in this leaden pastiche of children’s fairytale paired with somber meditation on otherness the writers have left the […]
By Susan JAMES The 13th annual exhibition of Emmy-nominated costumes by designers for television has opened at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) and will run through Oct. 26. Free to the public, the exhibition is located at 919 S. Grand Ave. and includes over 100 costumes from 23 television shows including 10 […]
By Susan JAMES Twelve movies in and the “Fast and Furious” franchise has a new baby brother, a spin-off explosion of two side characters, Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham). While Hobbs has operated on the side of the angels as part of Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto franchise, Shaw has been a […]
By Susan JAMES We live in a post-reality, animé-amped world so it’s only natural that the faux Aladdin would be the best Aladdin. Disney has a great trifecta going for it. Make a popular animated film, turn it into a live action movie and spin off a Broadway musical. Hello, “Lion King,” “Beauty and the […]