Artivist Film Festival Saturday, November 27, 2010

What's an artivist? An activist artist, of course. At least that's what the folks at the 2010 Artivist Film Festival like to call themselves, and what they're advocating is "awareness for humanity, animals, and the environment." This four-day feel-good festival, culminating in the 2010 Artivist Awards, showcases consciousness-raising indie films from around the world, including opening night's ReGeneration, on the multifaceted politics of 21st-century youth; Universo Paralelo, on Rio de Janeiro's slums; Play Again, on cyber-geek teens taken on a back-to-nature wilderness adventure; and Massai at Crossroads, on the cognitive dissonance of an African tribe assimilating their traditional culture into our modern-day world of the future. All of which makes that matinee Harry Potter ticket look like quite the extravagance. Egyptian Theater, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., L.A.; Wed., Dec. 1, thru Sat., Dec. 4. (323) 466-3456, artivist.com. (Originally published in L.A. Weekly, November 26, 2010.)

posted by Derek Thomas @ 11:37 PM, ,

Peter Pan Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Do you believe a boy can fly? You just might when you see what's going on in Peter Pan, the latest, greatest stage adaptation of J.M. Barrie's fantasy classic that's finally reached SoCal after its U.S. premiere in San Francisco, following its launch in London in 2009. Actually, its London debut was in 1904, minus the 360-degree video projection, and it was called Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. Barrie's play then became a novel in 1911, a Disney animated feature in 1953, a Broadway musical in 1954 (starring Mary Martin, then in the '70s Cathy Rigby), a live-action film in 2003, and now a stage play once again. Unlike the Broadway version, this one's not a musical, but rather a 21st-century spectacle. Thanks to Three Sixty Entertainment's CGI visuals, audiences soar along with Peter and Wendy on a high-tech flight over Edwardian London into Neverland, home to the Lost Boys and Captain Hook. More fairy dust, please! Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa; Tues.-Fri., 7 p.m. (no perf Dec. 14); Sat., 1 & 6 p.m.; Sun., 12 & 4:30 p.m.; Wed., Dec. 22, 1 & 6 p.m.; Thurs., Dec. 23, 2 & 7 p.m.; Fri., Dec. 24, 2 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 26, 12 & 4:30 p.m.; Tues., Dec. 28, 7 p.m.; Wed., Dec. 29, 1 & 6 p.m.; Sat., Jan. 1, 1 & 6 p.m.; Sun., Jan. 2, noon; $40-$125. (714) 556-2787, ocregister.com/peterpan. (Originally published in L.A. Weekly, November 19, 2010.)

posted by Derek Thomas @ 3:27 AM, ,

Hammer Conversations Friday, November 12, 2010

Two great tastes that taste great together — that's not just the concept behind Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, but also the premise of "Hammer Conversations," an ongoing series at the Hammer Museum pairing great minds who may or may not think alike to pontificate on the arts, the world and life as we know it. This time around, L.A. Weekly's Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold takes the stage with Bret Easton Ellis, the "Brat Pack" novelist most controversially known for authoring American Psycho. Ellis' literary debut, the 1985 novel Less Than Zero, took the MTV generation into the darkest avenues of sensationalized debauchery, while Gold's restaurant reviews have, since the '80s, taken more than a few serendipitous turns into the sordid back alleys of urban cuisine. Expect debate on the finer points of Taiwanese blood cakes. Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.; Tues., Nov. 16, 7 p.m.; free, ticket required, available at box office one hour prior, no resv. accepted. (310) 443-7000. (Originally published in L.A. Weekly, November 12, 2010.)

posted by Derek Thomas @ 2:06 AM, ,

National Lampoon Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Way before European Vacation and Chevy Chase in lederhosen, National Lampoon was a name associated with respectable journalism, and by respectable I mean antiestablishment social satire (with bonus boobs!). In a way, it was The Onion of its day, but that day being the 1970s all the writers had to parody was Vietnam or Third World starvation. (No modern-day Internet memes: W00t!) Those quaint days are celebrated in hardcover tome Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Writers and Artists Who Made National Lampoon Insanely Great, by Lampoon illustrator Rick Meyerowitz, who's compiled a nostalgic selection of the magazine's greatest jabs from its earliest days, with reflections from the mad men who made it all possible. Let's just not concern ourselves that the rights to the brand name "National Lampoon" are currently held by the marketers of Tim Conway's "Dorf" videos. Book Soup, 8818 W. Sunset Blvd., L.A.; Wed. Nov. 17, 7 p.m.; free, book is $40. (310) 659-3110. (Originally published in L.A. Weekly, November 12, 2010.)

posted by Derek Thomas @ 2:53 AM, ,

We're Going Back Thursday, November 4, 2010

It's a mere five years away from 2015, the year Marty McFly time-traveled to in 1989's Back to the Future Part II. While hoverboards may not yet be available at Target, modern-day fans can re-live the original 1985 adventure at We're Going Back: Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Back to the Future. Opening-night re-creates Doc Brown's flux-capacitor-charged Delorean first speeding past 88 miles per hour at the scene's original filming location, Puente Hills Mall in the City of Industry (a.k.a. Twin Pines Mall/Lone Pine Mall). A week of by-fans, for-fans fun follows: the "Hill Valley Film Festival" of fan fiction, fan films, and fan collections (Sat.); a filming locations tour, including "lunch at the Burger King from Doc's 1985 house" (Sun.); Hoverboarding 101, with the original stunt team and a full hoverboarding rig (Mon.); discussion with the film's special effects designers (Tues.); a day at Universal Studios Hollywood (Wed.); a private tour of Whittier Union High School, a.k.a. Hill Valley High (Thurs.); and the Enchantment Under the Sea Gala, with celebrity cast and crew, live band and DJ Jiggawatt, plus a 1955-themed costume contest and a 10:04 p.m. countdown (Fri., Nov. 12). All proceeds benefit Team Fox for Parkinson's research. Various locations and times (!); Fri., Nov. 5-12; $75-$250. Full schedule at weregoingback.com. (Originally published in L.A. Weekly, November 5, 2010.)

posted by Derek Thomas @ 1:19 AM, ,

Strolling on 7th Street Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to ... downtown Los Angeles. For one day only, the L.A. Conservatory hosts "Strolling on 7th Street," a self-guided tour of a select stretch of downtown, Seventh Street. Docents will be stationed at eight sites including St. Vincent's Court (formerly Bullock's Department Store), Walker & Eisen's Fine Arts Building (1927), Dodd and Richards' Brock and Co. Jewelers (1922), now hipsterrific whiskey bar Seven Grand; Coulter's Dry Goods, now the Mandel Lofts; Hellman Commercial Trust & Savings Bank (1924); Overell's, now Dearden's Home Furnishings (architect unknown, 1906), among others, with additional locations you can tour on your own. The point here is that, despite what you may have been told, L.A. has a history. Where nothing is real? For tour materials, go to lac.laconservancy.org/7, check-in site location with RSVP; Sun., Nov. 7, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; $30, $10 kids 12 and under. (213) 623-2489. (Originally published in L.A. Weekly, November 5, 2010.)

posted by Derek Thomas @ 2:53 AM, ,