Most stories of space travel deal with Earth-bound humans who long to visit other worlds, but the new science fiction romance film “The Space Between Us” tells a story from the reverse perspective. Sixteen-year-old Gardner (Asa Butterfield), the first human born on Mars, desperately wants to live with the rest of his species on Earth. […]
Category Archives: Film & TV
Q&A: Alumnus brings son’s childhood obsession with space to new film
When producer Richard Barton Lewis saw actor Asa Butterfield in “Hugo,” he knew that the young actor was perfect for the lead in his next project, “The Space Between Us.” Lewis met Butterfield over a Skype call, and the experience reminded him of the very movie he was making. The call kept cracking up and […]
Actress Diane Guerrero to speak on undocumented immigrants, new memoir
Diane Guerrero was 14 when her family was taken from her. She came home from a day of high school to find her house empty, her undocumented family members having been taken by immigration services. Guerrero eventually learned her parents and older brother were deported to Colombia. She, as a citizen and a teenager, relied […]
Grad student redirects passion toward film after finishing med school
Myra Aquino traded doctors’ scrubs for a director’s chair. During her four years at the University of Miami, Aquino doubted her passion for medicine. Her mind wandered in class, imagining her family medicine lecture turning into a martial arts movie. She envisioned the choreography, the acting and the shots of characters destroying everything in the […]
Reel Representation: Shonda Rhimes normalizes diversity in TGIT lineup
Diversity in film and television came into the spotlight in 2016 with #OscarsSoWhite. A USC study in 2016 found only about a quarter of speaking characters belonged to non-white racial/ethnic groups. In “Reel Representation,” columnist Olivia Mazzucato discusses different issues of race and representation in media as they relate to new movies and TV shows. […]
Q&A: UCLA professor talks inspiring a character in a 1980 Italian novel
Italian professor Massimo Ciavolella and the late Italian author Umberto Eco were good acquaintances. Ciavolella invited Eco to lecture during the professor’s classes at UCLA. Eco made Ciavolella a character in his book “Il nome della rosa,” or “The Name of the Rose.” The novel details a series of murders that take place at a […]
Second Take: Celebrities’ anti-Trump protests reflect many Americans’ concerns
The next time your friend drags you to a concert you never wanted to attend, just be grateful you didn’t have to sit through Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. Friday’s inauguration ceremony and ball, titled “Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration,” featured what was possibly the saddest musical setlist ever curated, including the runner-up of “America’s […]