TheFrontPageOnline.com A & E

‘A Raisin in the Sun’ Heats Up the Kirk Douglas Theatre

Frederik Sisa — 2012-01-27

It always puzzles me when fellow critics take notes during a performance. I’ll notice them scribbling away on their note pads or in the margins of the press kit – sometimes sedately, sometimes madly – and wonder how they can possibly foster an osmotic relationship with the performance.

Culver High AVPA Students Winners at Major Theatre Festival

Art & Entertainment — 2012-01-24

Dateline Anaheim — At the end of the prestigious California Educational Theatre Assn. festival, five actors from Culver City High School’s Academy of Visual and Performing Arts program earned Certificates of Merit from the AVPA fall production of West Moon Street.

W.E. Won’t Rock You

Frederik Sisa — 2012-01-23

It’s not a good sign when you suspect filmmakers are lying to you. W.E.’s credits list Abbie Cornish in the role of a maritally distraught New Yorker obsessed with the scandalous love affair between the Once and Never More King of England, Edward VIII, and American Wallis Simpson. But throughout the film I wondered what Charlize Theron was doing slumming around in the glassy lead role when surely there was a better film elsewhere for her to inhabit.

Through A Mirror, Bloodily: A Review of Alice: Madness Returns (Part 2)

Frederik Sisa — 2012-01-13

It would be easy to end the discussion with the game’s art and design, oooing at each character’s presentation, aaaahing at every level’s aesthetic, staring with wide-eyed excitement at the stylish animated cut scenes; such is the game’s rich artistry and sophisticated storytelling...But this is a game, after all, and while the quality of the art is beyond question the game’s greatness in terms of gameplay washes out in a mix of brilliance and nuisance, with enough of the former to mitigate frustrations with the latter.

AVPA Students Off to Seek a Major Prize in Anaheim

Art & Entertainment — 2012-01-12

Thirty-three Culver City High School students are returning to the California Educational Theatre Assn. High School Theatre Festival in Anaheim — where the school was a big winner last year — on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Through A Mirror, Bloodily: A Review of Alice: Madness Returns (Part 1)

Frederik Sisa — 2012-01-12

Gone was the innocuous blonde-haired girl with a summery blue-and-white dress and a penchant for attracting the whimsical. In her place, a dark gothic beauty with a blue, white, and bloodied dress, and a steely resolve to fight her way through Wonderland and, eventually, peace of mind.

It Isn’t Easy Being ‘Green’

Dr. Janet Hoult — 2012-01-10

[Editor’s Note: A tribute to City Council candidate/community activist Meghan Sahli-Wells by Culver City’s favorite poetess.]

A Brief Dispatch from the 52nd Annual County Holiday Celebration

Frederik Sisa — 2012-01-06

As in past celebrations, L.A.’s cultural and ethnic diversity was showcased on Dec. 24 through a range of performances from traditional Mexican folk dancing to Afro-Cuban drumming, Dickensian choirs to gospel ensembles, Jazz Tap to contemporary hip-hop dance, and more.

Just Trying to Understand Mysteries

Dr. Rosemary H. Cohen — 2012-01-04

[Editor’s Note: The newspaper is presenting excerpts from the new novel by Dr. Rosemary H. Cohen, “The Mother of Jerusalem Is Crying,” inspired, as all of her extensive writings are, by the sudden death of her teenage daughter 19 summers ago.]

Just Trying to Understand Mysteries

Dr. Rosemary H. Cohen — 2012-01-03

If You Hate Armenians, Don’t Read Book One

Dr. Rosemary H. Cohen — 2012-01-02

We Must Hold Onto and Watch Out for Each Other

Dr. Rosemary H. Cohen — 2011-12-29

[Editor’s Note: Each day this week, the newspaper will present excerpts from the new novel by Dr. Rosemary H. Cohen, “The Mother of Jerusalem Is Crying,” inspired, as all of her extensive writings are, by the sudden death of her teenage daughter 19 summers ago.] .

How Different Our Lives Might Have Been

Dr. Rosemary H. Cohen — 2011-12-28

Didn’t I Have Good Examples in My Family to Follow?

Dr. Rosemary H. Cohen — 2011-12-27

Everyone was surprised to see me, a mother who had just lost a beautiful daughter, able to remain so calm. I wanted to cry and complain. But then I remembered my grandmother and I felt ashamed for myself for I realized I had the best example to follow in my life.

My Daughter Was Dead

Dr. Rosemary H. Cohen — 2011-12-26

[Editor’s Note: Each day this week, the newspaper will present excerpts from the new novel by Dr. Rosemary H. Cohen, “The Mother of Jerusalem Is Crying,” inspired as all of her extensive writings are by the sudden death of her daughter 19 summers ago, as she recounts below.]

You Should Go See ‘Hugo’

Frederik Sisa — 2011-12-16

The big picture of it all is that Hugo is, in detail and scope, a beautiful piece of filmmaking that illustrates in craft what it can only hint at through dialogue. Scorsese delivers so many details to please the cinephile – from a small but benevolent role for the ever-charismatic Christopher Lee, to a humane and top-form performance from Ben Kingsley that reminds us why he’s such a pleasure to watch, to period costumes and locations that dare the audience to resist the urge to crawl into the picture frame – that the film itself becomes testament to why we love letting the movies, and rhetoric about the movies, carry us away.

Distinguishing Between Science and Religion. One Doesn’t Need Magic.

Ben Edward Akerley — 2011-12-15

The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True. By Richard Dawkins. (The Free Press) 271 pp. $29.99.

A Fairminded Visit Inside the Dusty Attic of Scientology

Ben Edward Akerley — 2011-12-08

Inside Scientology: The Story of America’s Most Secretive Religion. By Janet Reitman, Vanguard Press. 444 pp. $28.

AVPA Winter Concert Next Week Features Music for the Holidays

Geoff Maleman — 2011-12-07

Culver City High School and the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts will present “Music for the Holidays,” at Friday, Dec. 16, at 7 p.m., in the Robert Frost Auditorium, 4401 Elenda St.

The Muppets: A Fresh Serving of Muppetational Spectacle

Frederik Sisa — 2011-12-05

Just as hate might find the source of its progression in fear, despair might find its roots in nostalgia. No wonder, then, that Hollywood finds such a powerful figure in the aging star wilting without the sunlight of celebrity.

A Magician Who Believes He Does Not Believe

Ben Edward Akerley — 2011-11-28

“God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales” By Penn Jillette. Simon & Schuster. 231 pages. $24.99.

Interview with the Artist Yuyanapaq, Part II

Frederik Sisa — 2011-11-21

Re “Interview with an Artist. Who Is Yuyanapaq?”

Question — The relationship between music and images is well established. Arguably, the cinema's impact wouldn't be the same without a brawny musical score providing companionship to the imagery. What led you to creating multi-media albums? What is your method for joining music and film together?

Interview with an Artist: Who Is Yuyanapaq?

Frederik Sisa — 2011-11-18
While waiting outside the International City Theatre in Long Beach earlier this year, I noticed a CD case resting innocuously on one of the concrete picnic tables. Curious, I picked it up and gleaned almost nothing from the abstracted, enigmatic covers other than “Yuyanapaq,” which I assumed was an artist’s name, and “Ccollanan Pachacamac”, which I assumed was the album name, and a track listing. The CD was numbered, indicating that it was a limited edition. Looking around, I didn’t see anyone rushing back to the table breathlessly claiming to have left it behind. So I took it in the belief that it had been deliberately left behind by the artist for a stranger to discover and, hopefully, enjoy...But who is Yuyanapaq?

A Warm Tradition Returns: The 52nd County Holiday Celebration

Frederik Sisa — 2011-11-16
Thanksgiving is nigh, which means two things: Spending time with family and good food (not necessarily in that order) and the official start of the holiday season. While struggling with the endless barrage of commercials and exhortations to help retailers enjoy a very Merry Spend-mas, those of us looking for genuine sentiment and a warming sense of community need look no further than one of the most endearing traditions: the L.A. County Holiday Celebration, sponsored by the County Board of Supervisors on Christmas Eve, Saturday, Dec. 24, from 3 to 6 p.m.

The Night MGM’s Glory Faded to Dust

Ross Hawkins — 2011-11-07
On Oct. 28, 1957, Louis B. Mayer, who had been vice president and general manager of Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer for 27 years, quietly slipped into a coma at UCLA Medical Center and 35 minutes after midnight died at with his wife Lorena at his side.

The Malgrave Incident: A Video Game for People Who Don’t Play Video Games

Frederik Sisa — 2011-10-28
Building on their expertise with casual games delivered through the internet, Big Fish Games’ first foray into development for the Nintendo Wii console is a successful example of video games not named Angry Birds attracting an audience beyond a niche demographic.

Shouldering On..!

Dr. Janet Hoult — 2011-10-26
[Editor’s Note: Following surgery on Aug. 30, the right shoulder of our favorite hometown poetess was in a sling with an abductor pillow when she created her newest gem.]

‘The Robber Bridegroom’: Amusing, but a Barn Short of a Hootennany

Frederik Sisa — 2011-10-19
Based on the 1942 novella by Eudora Welty, which itself is a relatively cheery adaptation of a gruesome tale from the Brothers Grimm, The Robber Bridegroom took on life as a musical in the 1970s with producer Stuart Ostrow’s Musical Theatre Lab.

AVPA Star Student Charlotte Sabet Earns Trip to a Global Conference

Art & Entertainment — 2011-10-18
Charlotte Sabet, an Academy of Visual and Performing Arts student at Culver City High School, has won first-place in the “Get To Know Art Contest” for her painting, and she will serve this weekend as one of 20 youth delegates in "The International Unconference" in Jasper, Alberta, Canada.

‘Excuseman’ Only Tortures Readers

Frederik Sisa — 2011-10-14
In an age saturated by scandals, what we apparently need is a superhero wielding a very large needle to pop the ballooning delusions of celebrity apologetics. Unfortunately, “Excuseman” (aka Chicago trial lawyer Jordan Margolis) is too busy indulging himself to stay focused on his mission to save the world from “insincere apologies for bad behavior from celebrities, politicians and general ne’er-do-wells.”