If you see a swarm of zombies walking down the street this weekend, don’t be alarmed. It’s time for Thrill the World, an annual attempt to set the world record for largest simultaneous dance. The song of choice? What else? Michael Jackson’s multi-platinum ‘Thriller’, which inspires the ghoulish costumes. While last year’s event set the world record with a ... Read More »
Six years ago today, singer-songwriter Elliott Smith died from a pair of stab wounds. And it’s still unclear whether his death was a suicide or murder. Since then, a cloud of mystery has grown around the artist, and still, years later, fans gather at the so-called Elliott Smith Wall in LA’s Silver Lake neighborhood, wedged between an electronics shop and ... Read More »
New York, ya’ll better get ready to party. This weekend, Hard is coming to NYC. And the LA-based audio-visual extravaganza is bringing an all-star line-up of artists — including Major Lazer, Destructo and Crookers — to Terminal 5 (610 W 56th St., New York City; 212-665-3832), Saturday night from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. To sample what’s in store, check ... Read More »
Roman Polanski may not be going anywhere for a while, now that (allegedly?) raping a 13-year-old has finally caught up with him and all. He may be holed up in a Swiss jail, but his films provide a trip around the world. Even after his exile from the United States in 1977, the director continued to shoot on location throughout Europe ... Read More »
The year was 1983 and hip-hop was king. ‘Breakin’ and Enterin‘,’ a documentary about a Los Angeles hangout Radiotron, introduced the world to break dancing and a young rapper named Ice-T. A year later, the doc was turned into ‘Breakin’,’ an updated version of ‘West Side Story,’ about a jazz dancer who falls in love with a b-boy named Ozone. ... Read More »
They may only be 17, but the New Boyz are leading the latest wave of the West Coast sound. The Los Angeles-based duo of Ben J and Legacy hit it big with “You’re a Jerk,” an ode to jerkin’ dance craze that’s taken over the city’s teen scene. Steeped in laid-back party beats and styled with Day-Glo ’80s and ’90s ... Read More »
Despite the success of ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ and maybe in part because of it, this summer’s smash hit ‘Angels and Demons‘ didn’t have an easy ride to the cineplex. The 2008 Screen Actors Guild strike meant on-location filming was limited to a 3-week Roman blitz. Not only that, but the Pope’s people, unhappy with ‘Da Vinci,’ put the kibosh ... Read More »
It may not be pretty, but it sure is famous. The LA River, the concrete-bedded waterway that cuts through downtown Los Angeles, has appeared in plenty of well-known films — from ‘Grease‘ to ‘Chinatown.’ It usually plays sinister host to car chases and murder scenes, but today, there’s much more to see down by the river. Find out, after the ... Read More »
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