Generation

It's a pretty good bet that when stars arrive on the Oscar red carpet Sunday they'll be wearing clothes, jewelry and accessories selected with the help of a fashion stylist. And fans are more aware than ever that their idols don't create their looks alone. It's been only half a decade since celebrity stylists really began stepping out from behind the camera to claim a piece of the spotlight generally reserved for their clients. In the short time since Rachel Zoe first appeared in her own docudrama on Bravo in 2008 and her former assistant Brad Goreski splintered off from Team Zoe to star in his own series, a slew of other stylists have launched clothing lines and major collaborations, establishing that the age of the celebrity stylist-as-brand is here to stay.

It's been nearly a generation since Quentin Tarantino burst on the scene with his raucous indie film "Pulp Fiction" in 1994, and Hollywood is a very different place. The once-vibrant independent film scene that Tarantino helped shape has shrunk to a handful of players who have honed their survival skills in a harsh distribution landscape. But Tarantino is back at the Oscars this year, this time with another wonderfully incendiary piece of entertainment, "Django Unchained. " And so, as it happens, are a group of other directors from his generation of outsiders - only now they are the new Hollywood establishment.

With the Oscars finally upon us Sunday, it's do-or-die for the movies ranked in the L.A. Times Data Desk's HeatMeter, which tallies points at events throughout the season to gauge the overall traction of people and films. With Ben Affleck's "Argo" piling up the wins, it's taken the lead in the overall film race (which incorporates all wins for a movie, and for everyone from directors to actors to cinematographers). A best picture win could well cement "Argo's" place at the top of the heap.

WASHINGTON - As chief technology officer for President Obama's reelection effort, Harper Reed oversaw the development of projects such as Narwhal, an intricate platform that linked the campaign's myriad databases and allowed officials to plot strategy with new precision. The heady and exhausting 19-month gig convinced Reed, former technology officer for the online T-shirt retailer Threadless, that he should launch his own venture. "When you go from building T-shirts to software for a presidential campaign used by a cast of millions, it's pretty easy to think, 'OK, we can build something pretty big,'" Reed said.

WASHINGTON - In a closely watched patent case, Supreme Court justices appeared ready to dash the hopes of an Indiana farmer who claimed the unfettered right to plant the next generation of Monsanto Co.'s genetically modified soybeans. The justices strongly suggested in oral arguments Tuesday that they would agree with Monsanto that its patent protection covers not just the first planting but also seeds that are generated later from any plantings. "Why in the world" would any company invest millions of dollars in creating a new seed if a farmer could buy one and freely reproduce it, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked.

On a recent morning at singer-guitarist Ben Harper's Westside studio, famed blues harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite sits with a metal briefcase filled with instruments and gear, his thin mustache and slicked-back hair an elegant gray. The room is crowded with instruments, including a baby grand piano and racks of electric and acoustic guitars. At the center is Harper's empty chair, an array of effects pedals on the carpet. Harper and Musselwhite just released a new album together, "Get Up!"

Grammy Awards voters gave their top honor to British roots music band Mumford & Sons for their album "Babel" on Sunday at the 55th awards ceremony. Other top honors were distributed to a broad array of younger acts, including indie trio Fun., electronic pop artist Gotye, rapper-R&B singer Frank Ocean and rock group the Black Keys. "We figured we weren't going to win because the Black Keys have been sweeping up all day - and deservedly so," Mumford & Sons front man Marcus Mumford said after he and his band members strode to the stage at Staples Center in Los Angeles to collect the award from last year's winner, R&B-soul singer Adele.

If what two federal lawmakers say is true, there's more to the shutdown at the San Onofre nuclear plant than the public has been told. According to Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a leaked internal report by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which manufactured the problem-riddled steam generators that forced the shutdown, indicates that concerns about the generators' design were raised before they were even installed but that only minimal fixes were made. Southern California Edison, which owns the plant, denies this, which leaves ratepayers and the public in the dark.

Founder of the Mark Taper Forum, éminence grise of the regional theater movement, crusading champion of Los Angeles theater, Gordon Davidson was put in an unusual position last fall at USC's School of Dramatic Arts: He had to explain who he was to a group of undergraduates who had signed up for a semester-long course with him. Yet it didn't take him long to win over the class and to justify Dean Madeline Puzo's decision to greenlight the...

With decades ahead of them in the job market, more than half of millennials stay awake at night chewing over all manner of worries, according to a study. Those 18- to 33-yeas-olds actually stress out more than older generations, the American Psychological Assn. concluded in its new study. Slightly more than 50% said that overwhelming worries disrupted their sleep in the past month. A dour economy is top of mind for young people, with work and job stability sending their stress levels soaring.