Barbie seems to have it all – a perfectly pink Malibu dollhouse, glamorous wardrobe, squad of best friends and a loving boyfriend. However, until now, she was missing a way to express herself. Erica Lindbeck, a UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television alumna, landed a job with toy manufacturing company Mattel as the voice […]
Category Archives: Film & TV
Trailer Talk: ‘The Angry Birds Movie’
Movie trailers are like free samples at Costco: The good ones excite you and leave you wanting more, while the bad ones make you cringe. Each week, A&E columnist Matthew Fernandez will dissect movie trailers and analyze the Hollywood fare to come. The hellish phenomenon of “Minions” took over cinemas last year. It infected merchandising […]
Movie Review: ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’
When the original “Kung Fu Panda” lost the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature to “Wall-E” eight years ago, I felt that film’s heart, humor and action had been cheated by the Pixar name and slightly better animation. Luckily, DreamWorks Animations kept the series alive and gave audiences even more fuzzy animals, stellar kung fu […]
Love | Hate: Is ‘House of Cards’ compelling or too flawed to entertain?
Just in time for the nitty-gritty action of the 2016 presidential election to roll around, Frank Underwood from “House of Cards” and his highly competent and trustworthy (read: evil) political team are returning to Netflix. The Kevin Spacey-led drama, set around Frank’s criminal race to the executive office alongside his wife Claire (Robin Wright), enters […]
Kid Koala’s ‘Nufonia Must Fall’ meshes music, film with puppetry
The dimly lit stage hosted a bustling 13-man team composed of cameramen switching angles, musicians harmonizing and puppeteers directing miniature characters. When the audience’s gaze shifts upward, the hectic scene completely transforms fluidly to black and white film. The Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA will present “Nufonia Must Fall” in Royce Hall […]
Movie Review: ‘Dirty Grandpa’
On Jan. 22, “Dirty Grandpa” was unleashed on the unsuspecting American public. The purpose behind the movie is dubious. Historians and scholars will debate it for years to come. But here is what stands obvious and unrelentingly true: “Dirty Grandpa” is a travesty and a punishment for everybody who watches it. The film stars Zac […]
Reels, Notes & Takes: Week 4
There’s no better place to keep a finger on the pulse of arts and entertainment happenings than Los Angeles. The A&E world is alive – it’s always buzzing, sometimes ready to implode with a hint of a surprise album or a celebrity’s controversial statement. Each week, the Daily Bruin A&E editors will discuss their views […]