ENTERTAINMENT
March 16, 2013 | By Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times Television Critic
"Survive and Advance," which premieres Sunday on ESPN as part of its excellent "30 for 30" series of sports documentaries, is a sweet and moving depiction of the sweet and moving story of the 1983 North Carolina State men's basketball team, the Wolfpack, and its colorful coach, Jim Valvano. You will need a handkerchief or two to get through it, unless you are some sort of soulless, inhuman monster. Directed by Jonathan Hock ("Unguarded"), it is a tale of great deeds, inspiring speeches, comical sound bites and big, long hugs in what was a legendary time for college basketball - the days when Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing were still in school and players tended to stick around for three or even four years of play rather than taking off early for the pros: "The games were better," says University of North Carolina Coach Roy Williams.
ENTERTAINMENT
February 10, 2013 | By Todd Martens
The Grammys, live . . . 8:55 p.m.: The Grammys saved the most fascinating performer for one of its final performances, and the Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch finally received a Grammy tribute, albeit a brief one. First, to introduce Frank Ocean, Juanes declared him one of today's “more compelling singer-songwriters.” He gave a performance that lived up to that bill, although it may not widely expand his fan base. Ocean's “Forrest Gump” began with a striking guitar solo, which gave way as Ocean appeared onstage.
SPORTS
February 1, 2013 | By Melissa Rohlin
Ah, it's the time of year when avid football fans and people who have no interest in the sport gather to laugh or cry among heaps of buffalo wings and nachos -- some watching the game, others the commericals. A few Super Bowl commercials have been leaked in advance of the event and they're already drawing various reactions. Below is a sneak peak of some of the commercials, which cost close to $4 million to air in a 30-second spot, according to Forbes. Here's a Mercedes-Benz commercial featuring supermodel Kate Upton, which begins with sultry music playing as the camera pans from Upton's feet to her head.
NEWS
October 12, 2012 | By Karin Klein
While the voters argued over who won which debate, while the presidential conventions produced their speeches, while Californians pondered tax initiatives and condom use in the pornography industry, and the shuttle Endeavour wowed us as it flew over our heads but angered the people on the ground whose trees would make way for its slow procession through Los Angeles, Andrew Lyon was out of the picture, thinking about issues as immediate as whether he...
OPINION
October 31, 2010 | By Arnold Friedman
On Oct. 31, 1985, Los Angeles Police Det. Thomas C. Williams was shot to death while picking up his 6-year-old son from church school. The 42-year-old had just come from the San Fernando courthouse, where the trial of a robbery suspect he'd apprehended would end the next day. In the split second before Williams was struck by eight shots from a fully automatic assault pistol, he ordered his son Ryan to duck. By immediately complying, the boy was spared. His father died instantly. In addition to his son, Williams left behind a 17-year-old daughter, Susan, and his wife, Norma.
ENTERTAINMENT
January 7, 2010
Director Guy Ritchie's updated "Sherlock Holmes" is far more physical than past portrayals but what's really shocking is how brutal those punches look in slow motion. To capture the jaw-cracking and rippled skin of the fisticuffs, director of photography Philippe Rousselot shot the fights with a Phantom HD camera, which shoots in excess of 1,000 frames per second (as opposed to the normal 24 frames per second). The results surprised even Rousselot, who says the punches weren't enhanced at all in post.