In spite of being shown at an obscure film festival  — SEEFF, or South East European Film Festival — and in spite of dealing with the consequences of now-obscure conflicts that two decades ago dismembered Yugoslavia, “The Constitution,” by Croatian director Rajko Grlić, touches your heart and soul — and lingers in your mind longer [...]

Celebrating its 16th anniversary, the Los Angeles-based Dance Camera West Dance Media Film Festival reels out this week, starting on Thursday, April 20, and ending Sunday, April 30. Visiting West Side venues including UCLA’s Fowler Museum, Glorya Kaufman Hall, Royce Hall and the Santa Monica Pier, the presentations are divided into groups of international short [...]

There’s a name missing from the credits to this most entertaining action/quasi-documentary film. It’s Dick Cheney’s. Without his evil genius, the story line of “War Dogs” would not exist. So, thank you, Dick.
Although immoral throughout, it’s a feel-good story. It feels true (it mostly is). In the theater you laugh and enjoy the action and [...]

Dance Camera West’s 15th Annual Dance Media Film Festival explores dance through film and live performance. Taking place at MOCA, UCLA’s Royce Hall and UCLA’s Fowler Museum June 11 and 16-18, this multi-disciplinary festival will showcase many forms of dance including modern, postmodern, world, tap, Dance Theater, ballet, hip-hop and practically all dance that has [...]

Parrot Poet Productions presents the world premiere of Parallel Worlds: A New Rock Music Experience. Created by Brandon Beckner with stage direction by Matthew McCray, attendees can expect a powerful live rock concert, a bold theatrical stage play, and an epic big-screen love story, all harmoniously blended with one another to take its audience on a [...]

Sometimes, you just have to hand it to artists who refuse to be daunted by the sheer audacity of their vision, whatever that vision may be. And thus, I applaud the creators of Parallel Worlds, billed as “A New Rock Music Experience” that combines live music, dramatic acting and film. While I’m not sure that [...]

A new film is due out in May starring Meryl Streep as Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York socialite in the 1940s known for her peculiarly awful opera singing. This biopic promises to be entertaining… but it won’t be “Marguerite.”
“Marguerite” is a work of art, which takes the fascinating life of Foster Jenkins as inspiration [...]

Many critics and famous artists have claimed Mike Kelley is responsible for putting the L.A. “art scene” on the map. After attending CalArts in the late ’70s under the guidance of teachers like John Baldessari and Laurie Anderson, he created an expansive network of multi-disciplinary artists, musicians and actors that he regularly collaborated with out [...]

Spotlighting Grand Avenue’s status as a vibrant world-class arts destination, 11 cultural organizations along this arts-centric stretch of Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles are presenting a free one-day cultural event, GRAND AVE ARTS: ALL ACCESS, on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Grand Avenue between Temple and Sixth streets that [...]

In a new movie called “Victoria,” director Sebastian Schipper and cast present a one-take, 138-minute travesty of cinema trying to pass as an artistic achievement.
“Victoria” made me sick to my stomach. It’s exceedingly rare that one can use this expression correctly for both its meanings. For public safety, the back of the cinema seats where [...]