In the war zone that is the fall TV season, it’s important to pick out the gems hidden in the media mesh. Each week, A&E columnist Sebastian Torrelio will profile one new show and one returning show that share a connection, detailing how they may make those after-school hours more meaningful. “Modern Family” was kept […]
Author Archives: Sebastian Torrelio
Fall 2015 movie preview
Ask one person, and they’ll say that their most anticipated movie of late 2015 is “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.” Ask another person, and they’ll say that it’s “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens.” Everyone seems to have made their choice, whether it’s for the brutish strength of the Capitol or […]
Movie Review: ‘Ricki and the Flash’
Meryl Streep went the extra mile for “Ricki and the Flash.” A large part of the film’s promotional campaign highlighted the time it took her to learn how to play guitar, although the coaching from guitar master Neil Young must have helped a bit. Because of her unwavering commitment to the material at hand, Streep […]
FYF Fest highlights span musical genres, include Kanye West set
For the second year in a row, Los Angeles’ Exposition Park played host to FYF Fest for two days of eclectic beat-making and expensive food-trucking. With a sprinkling of every genre from noise rock to hardcore hip-hop to dance-funk to anything that might remotely fit in between, Saturday and Sunday demonstrated modern-day American music culture at […]
Movie Review: ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’
Out of every A-list movie star, Tom Cruise is probably among the most divisive. At face value, he’s a man past his prime: every movie he’s made since the early 2000s – from the less-than-pleasurable “Vanilla Sky” to the less-than-less-than-pleasurable “Rock of Ages” – seems to have slowed his career to a crawl, both critically […]
Album Review: ‘Currents’
It’s official: Kevin Parker is a mastermind. Now that he’s three blissful studio albums in, the greater indie population that closely follows his kind of psychedelic wanderings can now cement his musical genius status. There is a feeling that everyone already did that, though. Parker’s project, Tame Impala, has brought purely psychedelic rock to the […]
Second Take: ‘Batman v Superman’, ‘Suicide Squad’ trailers show DC’s faulty mentality
It’s no mystery why the trailer for “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” received a standing ovation at this year’s Comic-Con. It capitalizes on everything that makes director Zack Snyder one of the kings of fandom fodder: the gritty tone, the unfathomable destruction and the score that is more accurately described as loud than anthemic. […]