Author Archives: Elizabeth Packer

Director, producer, screenwriter … film preservationist?

Disturbing is not a word generally associated with ballet, yet then again, the subject of most ballets is not war.

While many may enjoy the simplicity of a boiled ballpark hot dog topped with neat squiggles of ketchup and mustard, not too far from both Dodger Stadium and UCLA, the famous Pink’s is expanding horizons one crazy hot dog at a time.

If you believe in the power of superstition, you probably avoid black cats, handle mirrors very carefully, and never walk beneath ladders. And if you’re an actor, you know never to utter the title of a certain Shakespearean tragedy inside a theater.

Given our proximity to Hollywood, and with one of the country’s best film schools right on campus, UCLA is a great place to discover the world of movies and television ““ no matter what your major.

India, land of tropical humidity, sari-clad women and religious pilgrims a-plenty, serves as director Wes Anderson’s inspiration in his latest film, “The Darjeeling Limited.” And while the setting is fresh, the plot is vintage Anderson. Those familiar with his work will recognize aspects of “The Darjeeling Limited,” including estranged family members seeking to reconnect with […]

If you swapped the palm trees and beaches of “The O.C.” for the sidewalks and skyscrapers of New York City, the result would be “Gossip Girl,” the CW’s new show based on the series of popular novels by Cecily von Ziegesar that chronicles the life of the Upper East Side’s prep-school elite.