This week, Daily Bruin A&E is counting down to the new year by looking back at the best and worst events in the arts and entertainment world of 2015. Today, A&E senior staff Aalhad Patankar analyzes the lack of originality in 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Warning: This article contains plot spoilers. I have […]
Author Archives: Aalhad Patankar
2015 UCLA Game Art Festival: hands-on at The Hammer
Arcade machines, intricate game pieces and a plethora of digital, multimedia and board games will inhabit the Hammer Museum on Wednesday. Among them, something bigger will be at play. A collaboration between the UCLA Game Lab and the Hammer Museum, the 2015 UCLA Game Art Festival will explore the intersection between art and gaming, said […]
Review: Escape Key Entertainment
I sat in the casino bar with my partner, listening to a wildly intoxicated Julian babble on about his secret plan. I knew I didn’t have much time. My partner patiently took heed as Julian spilled the beans about the casino’s impending demolition and his plans to take off with a fortune in cash stored […]
Q&A: Tabla virtuoso, composer Zakir Hussain on blending musical genres
In 1970, Zakir Hussain took the Royce Hall stage for the first time, and has since performed hundreds of shows across the world. Hussain is a Grammy Award-winning tabla player and composer best known for his influence on world music and fusion between Indian and Western styles. Hussain will return to Royce Hall Tuesday with […]
Movie Review: ‘Straight Outta Compton’
In some ways, “Straight Outta Compton” is what its titular album was almost 30 years ago. The film is loud, raw and uncompromising; a street epic weaving together a dramatic, violent fantasy from what many South Central Angelinos knew to be a harsh reality. With racial tensions and police violence pervading the news again, it […]
‘Time’ named Best Drama in CEC Shorttakes film festival
For Daniela Arguello, inspiration for her short film “Time” came from an unexpected place. “It was just as if a brick fell from the sky and hit me in the head, and I was like ‘Wow, I want to do this,’” said Arguello, a first-year film student. “I saw the whole film in my head […]
Avartan Music Festival to bring together Indian classical performers
From center stage of Schoenberg Hall emanates a voice which holds a calming, single note, then glides through a musical scale before returning back. The singer, UCLA alumna Gaayatri Kaundinya, sits cross-legged on the stage leading the performance. By her side sits her accompanist, who follows her every note with his violin only a split […]