ENTERTAINMENT
May 18, 2012 | By Sheri Linden
There's an unflashy clarity to the documentary "Bill W. " that suits its subject. William G. Wilson, the "stinking rotten drunk" who had an epiphany and co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935, was a Vermont Yankee whose life's work was predicated on humility and service. Today's celebrity rehab news cycle would likely displease him; a true believer in the value of anonymity, he turned down an honorary degree from Yale and a cover story in Time (which later placed him in the top 20 "Heroes and Icons" of the 20th century)
ENTERTAINMENT
May 18, 2012 | By Gary Goldstein
In the smart, involving documentary "Indie Game: the Movie," when video game designer Phil Fish chillingly asserts that he'd kill himself if he didn't finish his long-gestating game "Fez," you get the feeling he isn't bluffing. That's the level of depth and candor filmmakers Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky mine here as they profile several independent artists struggling to succeed in the highly corporatized - and often hugely lucrative - video game industry. In addition to the French-Canadian Fish, who spent more than four nerve-wracking years developing the much anticipated, aesthetically oriented "Fez," the movie also compellingly follows the long distance, rollercoaster collaboration between designer Edmund McMillen and programmer Tommy Refenes as they create "Super Meat Boy," their first major game for Xbox (it went on to sell more than 1 million copies)
ENTERTAINMENT
May 13, 2012 | By Greg Braxton, Los Angeles Times
Barbara Walters, Peter Jennings and Diane Sawyer all made their best pitch but were turned down. Johnny Carson, the man who changed forever the world of late-night talk, wasn't talking. The network news powerhouses had separately attempted to secure interviews with Carson to get him to speak about his life and his place as one of the most influential figures in TV history. But from his 1992 retirement after 30 years on"The Tonight Show"until his death in 2005 at age 79, Carson steadfastly refused to cooperate with almost all interviews, books or films that would have called on him to reflect on his past or his show, which simultaneously reflected and influenced the nation's conversation about itself.
ENTERTAINMENT
May 4, 2012
An energy businessman is donating a record $35 million to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History to build a new dinosaur hall on the National Mall, the museum complex announced Thursday. The donation by David H. Koch, the executive vice president of Koch Industries Inc. of Wichita, Kan., is the single largest gift in the museum's 102-year history. Koch, an engineer trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a billionaire who lives in New York City.
ENTERTAINMENT
May 4, 2012 | By Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times Film Critic
"Gotta dance!" is what Gene Kelly insists in "Singing in the Rain," and none of the driven young people featured in the irresistible "First Position" would do anything but enthusiastically agree. As directed by Bess Kargman, "First Position" is in part the latest wrinkle in a documentary sub-genre that's proved wildly popular. Combine eager youngsters with the elixir of competition and, whether it's spelling bee rivals in "Spellbound" or recreational dancers in "Mad Hot Ballroom," you have a formula for maximum audience engagement.
ENTERTAINMENT
April 29, 2012 | By Laura Bleiberg, Special to the Los Angeles Times
On a recent Sunday morning, at an hour when many a teenager is still prone in bed, Adam Bernstein, 15, and Eli Gruska, 13, were lying face down on the floor of a Los Angeles ballet studio. Both boys would soon be heading to New York City for the biggest ballet competition in the country. They and the others in this all-boys class were awaiting instructions from Marat Daukayev, former principal dancer withRussia'sfamed Kirov Ballet (now the ballet of the Mariinsky Theatre). Daukayev begins his boys' class with sets of push-ups, not pliés.