UCLA lecturer and animation critic Charles Solomon has seen numerous animated films, and this weekend he will add 12 more to the list. Solomon will be one of the judges for the Animation Is Film Festival, which will take place Friday to Sunday at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood. The festival will showcase […]
Category Archives: Film & TV
Second Take: “American Horror Story: Cult” excels at both horror, comedy
If you’ve ever watched Sarah Paulson scream, then you’ve already seen about 80 percent of “American Horror Story” season seven. Paulson, who plays one of the protagonists this season, is an episode staple in the most recent installment of the “Horror Story” franchise, and yet she spends most of the show running around a large […]
Second Take: New season of ‘Empire’ sees power shift, love triangle
Warning: This post contains plot spoilers of previous and current seasons of “Empire.” Season three of “Empire” ended on a cliche – a stressful, steep cliffhanger of a cliche, but still, a cliche. At the end of season three, Lucious Lyon (Terrance Howard), the music mogul, awoke from a three-monthslong coma with no memory of […]
UCLA alum produces romantic thriller with focus on dark, erotic themes
“Thirst Street” transforms Paris from the city of love into the city of one-night stands. A romantic thriller produced by UCLA alumnus Josh Mandel and released Sept. 20, “Thirst Street” follows American flight attendant Gina and her obsession with a burlesque nightclub bartender named Jérôme. Mandel said the filmmaking team explored themes touching on the […]
Second Take: James Cameron’s criticisms of women in film are harmful
Thank goodness James Cameron told us what to think about “Wonder Woman,” said no one ever. In interviews with The Guardian on Aug. 24 and The Hollywood Reporter on Sept. 27, Cameron criticized the summer’s No. 1 film at the box office, dismissing it as “a step backwards” and deeming the film’s hype as misguided […]
Alumna uses experience of growing up in LA to portray lead in coming-of-age play
Estela Garcia first read Sandra Cisneros’ coming-of-age novel, “The House on Mango Street,” in the ninth grade. She said it was the first time she had encountered anything that reflected her life growing up in South Los Angeles. Now, the alumna plays the story’s main character, Esperanza Cordero, in the Greenway Court Theatre’s production of […]
LA Taiwan Academy to screen LGBTQ projects created by UCLA grad students
Taiwan elected its first female president in 2016 and, just a year later, the Taiwanese constitutional court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage. The events marked some of Asia’s first steps toward a more socially progressive society and inspired graduate production design student Hogan Lee to showcase LGBTQ-themed films made by female Asian filmmakers, he […]