Runaways

The problem with "The Runaways," a street-level snapshot of the creation of the groundbreaking '70s all-girl rock band, is that they went with the wrong girl. Instead of training the lens on the Runaways' artistic rebel who hung around and became legend, rocker Joan Jett, played with serious punk grrl power by Kristen Stewart, the movie focuses on the one who actually ran away, lead singer Cherie Currie, a kohl-eyed and sullen Dakota Fanning. The look is there. Writer-director Floria Sigismondi, who cut her teeth in the music video world and is making her feature debut, used her shoestring indie budget to great effect, creating a grainy documentary feel that nails the hard knocks and raw existence of the I-wannabe-a-rock-star crowd hovering around the edges of the Hollywood music scene.

Two teenagers thought to have run away from their homes in Thousand Oaks and described as possibly suicidal have been found "in good health," authorities said Friday. Kaylee Rebert, 14, and Nicholas Marino, 13, were found in Newbury Park about 3 p.m. Friday after someone reported seeing the pair, the Ventura County Sheriff's Department said. Deputies found them a short time later. The teens were not in any danger when they were found, the department said, adding that at this time there was "no crime associated with this incident.

The search of a 2,000-acre park for two runaway Thousand Oaks teenagers believed to be suicidal has ended and authorities have begun a larger-scale investigation, authorities said Thursday evening. Capt. Dave Wareham of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department said  deputies are now investigating the possibility that friends are harboring them. Deputies are also monitoring possible transportation options the teens could use and digging for information on social media. Kaylee Rebert, 14, and Nicholas Marino, 13, are believed to have run away from home early Thursday.

Authorities were still searching Friday morning for two missing teenagers who they believe ran away from their homes in Thousand Oaks and may be suicidal. Capt. Dave Wareham of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department said late Thursday that deputies had turned their attention away from a 2,000-acre park and had cast their net wider.   Kaylee Rebert, 14, and Nicholas Marino, 13, are believed to have run away from home early Thursday. Wildwood Park was a likely spot because Kaylee knew the park well and was there Wednesday, Wareham said.

The men of rock 'n' roll started many major style trends throughout the '60s and '70s — think Beatles and mop tops, Sex Pistols and spikes, KISS and face paint. But women are represented on that list as well: among them, the members of the Runaways, who showed the pop culture universe of the 1970s how strong, smoky eyes and a feathered mullet could rock just as hard as the guys. In the film "The Runaways," which is scheduled to open Friday, lead makeup artist Robin Mathews went for a mix of punk and glam-rock for Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, who portray Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, the best-known members of the all-girl band.

All parents of children from babes to kindergarten age should take heed of the story of Carmen Ponce ("A Mother Discovers the System Doesn't Work for Runaways," Nov. 15). As a kindergarten teacher (now retired) in the East District of Los Angeles School system, I saw children with faces that revealed friendly love, but I saw more with fears, anxieties, hates, rebellion. Almost with certainty I could predict the dropouts, the runaways. An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of improbable cure.

Patricia and Rico Montenegro should be putting up Christmas decorations and lights at their Placentia condominium. Instead, they are putting up flyers with a picture of a smiling teen-ager. Their frequent trips to area shopping centers and strip malls highlight their attempt to find their 14-year-old daughter, Alita, who left home the day before Thanksgiving. Alita is one of many who run away from home during the holidays.

In the opening scenes of "The Runaways," Floria Sigismondi's ode to the all-girl hard rock band, the characters played by Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning could be almost any teenage girls living in the Valley circa 1975. Fanning is sitcom-cute in a plaid shirt, miniskirt and knee socks; Stewart sports a T-shirt and jeans. But then Stewart's character walks into a rockabilly boutique, dumps a bag full of change on the counter and demands "what he's wearing," pointing to a guy in a black leather motorcycle jacket and leather pants.

Dakota Fanning's porcelain-doll features were swathed in exotic makeup and her blond hair coiffed into a feathery shag; she raised her umpteenth shot of sake and cast a knowing glance at Kristen Stewart. The "Twilight" star held Fanning's gaze briefly and toasted back, looking every inch the tough rocker chick, with her matching black shag hairdo, spiked bracelet and razor-blade charm necklace. The actresses clinked glasses and giggled. With downtown Los Angeles' Kyoto Grand Hotel standing in for a bustling Tokyo sushi joint last summer, the teen stars were on the set of the coming-of-age drama "The Runaways" -- in character, with Fanning as Cherie Currie, the wild-child lead singer of the titular all-girl rock group, and Stewart portraying Joan Jett, its electric-guitar-wielding, 'tude-copping founder.

Becky was self-destructive, sometimes violent and suicidal. Her parents put her in a private mental hospital for therapy, but when the money ran out, the county was their last resort--and "worst mistake." Harriet and Brian Brooks of La Verne say they haven't seen their 13-year-old daughter now since March 27, when she jumped out of a county car taking her from MacLaren Children's Center in El Monte to a court appearance. But that wasn't the first time Becky had run away.

This should be a golden age for visual effects in movies. Thanks to the box office success of movies such as "The Avengers" and "Life of Pi," demand for visual effects has never been greater. Studios are spending $100 million or more to put ever more stunning digital images on the big screen. But the companies that create the computer-generated imagery for those blockbusters are struggling as a rising tide of globalization and runaway production takes a toll on an industry that California pioneered.

A Ferrari made the rest of the field look like go-karts Saturday in the Santa Anita Handicap. As the 6-5 favorite, Game On Dude was expected to be impressive, but he went well beyond that. He was dazzling, awe-inspiring. For the crowd of 26,901 at the Great Race Place, the 2 minutes and 14-hundredths of a second they got of Game On Dude was easily worth the price of admission. The 6-year-old gelding broke to the front and never looked back, winning the $750,000 Grade I race by a record 7 3/4 lengths over Clubhouse Ride.

MOUNTAIN HOME VILLAGE - Smoke from the warm fire inside Fred Richardson's home hung in the mountain air outside his house Wednesday, masking the heartbreak inside and throughout the tiny creekside town where he lived for seven decades. His son, Steve, grieved silently on the front porch. Along with the wind sifting through the pines and sycamores, the only other sound came from traffic winding down the mountain highway just a few blocks away - the same highway that took his father's life.

It's a shame Gloria Gaynor wasn't making records back in 1920, because if anyone needs to drink about seven or eight bottles of wine, throw "I Will Survive" on the Victrola and belt out those lyrics from the bottom of her heart using Lady Mary's hairbrush as a microphone, it's poor old Edith. The middle Crawley sister has had more than her fair share of hard knocks and humiliations over the years, from her short-lived fling with the farmer down the road to her aborted flirtation with a (likely)

BERKSHIRE, England - It's a midsummer afternoon in the English countryside, and a parade of aristocrats is gliding up a grassy hill toward Downton Abbey. There is Lord Grantham, in his crisp dinner suit, followed by his daughters Lady Edith and Lady Mary. And here comes Lady Cora a few paces behind, talking on her... iPhone. The fantasy is further shattered on closer inspection: Mary's and Edith's beaded gowns peek out from beneath white puffy coats that are distinctly 21st century.

The Twelve Justin Cronin Ballantine Books: 592 pp., $28 No one expected Justin Cronin to sink his teeth into a post-apocalyptic vampire novel. He was an award-winning author of quiet literary fiction when he drafted a story so compelling and frightening that he landed a $3.75-million, three-book deal. The trilogy began in 2010 with "The Passage," a 784-page runaway bestseller, one of the few books that could boast of billboards on Sunset Boulevard. "The Twelve" is second in the series, but even the most devoted fans may notice a bit of a sophomore slump.

Two years ago a 14-year-old boy playing basketball in a Louisville, Ky., park pulled out a .38-caliber pistol and told a friend he was going to kill himself. The boy's father, a minister, had been planning to send him to an out-of-state school because of behavior problems, and the youngster was depressed about leaving his home and his girlfriend. His friend persuaded the boy to walk to a nearby food store where a Safe Place had been established to help young runaways reach overnight shelters.

The story of a runaway cow that ran amok through downtown Billings this week has left many longtime Montana residents perplexed and frankly embarrassed: How could a cow get so out of hand that a police sniper had to be called in? Where were the cowboys? The comments section of the Billings Gazette , which first ran the story about the cow caper, is overflowing with recriminations of the what-has-happened-to-Montana type. “This just illustrates how things have changed in the ol' West.