“The Shape of Water” makes audiences fall in love with a relationship between a mythical amphibian creature and a mute janitor. The plot of Guillermo del Toro’s latest film sounds a bit like an LSD-induced daydream: A mute janitor named Elisa (Sally Hawkins) falls in love with an amphibious creature (Doug Jones) that the U.S. military […]
Category Archives: Film & TV
Movie review: ‘The Disaster Artist’
James Franco should teach a UCLA course on the art of impersonating Tommy Wiseau. In “The Disaster Artist,” Franco co-stars for the first time alongside his younger brother, Dave Franco, to re-enact the filmmaking process behind the infamous film “The Room.” Based on actor Greg Sestero’s book “The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, […]
Theater student casts actors for original screenplay
Ava Lalezarzadeh received 192 applications for eight open roles in her first film. Lalezarzadeh, a second-year theater student, and her casting director Emily Abbott, a third-year English student, turned away more than 150 people during their casting auditions for Lalezarzadeh’s original film “Pool Man.” The short film follows the story of a pool cleaner named […]
TV review: ‘Ball in the Family’
“Ball in the Family” has officially become the “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” of sports. The Facebook Watch show, which follows parent, coach and manager LaVar Ball’s life and his children’s basketball careers, debuted its second season Sunday to more than 300,000 viewers amid the current drama surrounding the family. Elements that solidified the Ball […]
Movie review: ‘Coco’
Death comes to life and life comes to death in Pixar’s latest animated film “Coco.” After a subpar “Cars 3” release, Pixar returned to its former glory with “Coco,” a film featuring exceptional animation, complex characters and hard-hitting themes about love, loss and legacy. “Coco” follows the story of Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), a 12-year-old […]
Q&A: Alumnus describes working on “Coco,” seeing self represented on film
Jesus Martinez knew instantly that he wanted to work on “Coco” – it was one of the first times he saw a character on the big screen who looked like him when he was a kid. The UCLA alumnus had just finished working on “The Good Dinosaur” as a lighting manager when Pixar began putting […]
Movie review: ‘Justice League’
“Justice League” takes the stereotypical, end-of-the-world superhero movie plot and manages to make it even more predictable. With an overly straightforward plot, “Justice League” is the most recent film in the DC Extended Universe following the release of the critically acclaimed “Wonder Woman.” Although the film does adopt some of the strong humor and plot […]