NoHo

Don Jon Review: Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Impressive Writing-Directing Debut Examines Porn Addiction

Music Docs, Rushmore and a Burbank Film Fest: Your Weekly Movie To-Do List

Friday, Aug. 30 The film and music festival Don't Knock the Rock returns to Cinefamily with a lineup of music documentaries, live performances and DJs. Nearly all the films will feature a postscreening Q&A with the filmmakers, including one moderated by L.A. Weekly's Jeff Weiss on Saturday. Kicking ... More >>

Dee Smith's Play Wasn't Very Good. So She Fired the Director and Started Over

When it comes to putting up a show, Los Angeles' small theater community isn't generally known for its readiness to give a play a second chance. The custom here is to roll the dice, stoically accept what comes and then quietly move on to the next project. But nobody told that to actor and first-tim ... More >>

5 Los Angeles Rental Neighborhoods Under The Radar

With average rent in Venice reaching more than $2,800 according to one report, it's getting hard to find affordable housing in L.A. that hasn't lost its soul. Lucky for us there's nearly 500 square miles of space in the city alone, so there's always an up-and-coming community just around the corner ... More >>

Theater to See in L.A. This Week, Including a Jacobean Incest Melodrama

The scandal surrounding a love affair between a brother and his sister forms the centerpiece of John Ford's 17th century play, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore. Archway Theatre's downtown production is this week's pick. See below for all the latest new theater reviews and comprehensive theater listings. Thi ... More >>

Cheech and Chong Tell Us About Their New Animated Movie, the Duo's First Feature in 29 Years

Top 5 Tiki Bars in Los Angeles

Even if it's reborn as part of the newly-imagined Clifton's, many still mourned when aquarium-filled Bahooka tiki bar in Rosemead closed its doors recently. But in NoHo, the Tonga Hut will be celebrating its 55th birthday this year -- and appropriately for such an exotic craze, the phenomenon began ... More >>

Midget Zombies and Black Republicans: Your Weekly Movie To-Do List

See also: *More L.A. Weekly Film Coverage Friday, March 22 Help celebrate two (non-mutually exclusive) minority groups by attending the 10th Annual Outfest Fusion LGBT People of Color Film Festival, which starts its two-day run on Friday. The fest will open at 7 p.m. at REDCAT with the documentar ... More >>

Eric Smidt, L.A. Dem who Owns Harbor Freight Tools, Gives $50,000 to Elect Kate Anderson, Antonio Sanchez and Monica Garcia to LAUSD

Eric Smidt must be L.A.'s least-written-about, super-rich, self-made guy pouring money into Democratic races in the U.S., and now he's given $50,000 to the Coalition for School Reform to elect Kate Anderson and Antonio Sanchez to the powerful LAUSD Board of Education, and to re-elect incumbent Monic ... More >>

Bless Me, Ultima Review: Film Version Is Too Faithful to the Classic Novel

A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III Review: Roman Coppola Gives Charlie Sheen the 8 1/2 Treatment

Casey Veggies: Our Interview With the 19-Year-Old Phenom

The 19-year-old rapper Casey Veggies is a founding member of Odd Future, he built a considerable buzz with his 2010 release Sleeping In Class. He put off college in favor of a three-month nationwide tour with Mac Miller, and went on to ink a management deal with Jay Z's Roc Nation soon after. His n ... More >>

An L.A. Theater Company Moves Into...a Retirement Community?

See also: *Our Latest Theater Reviews *5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This Week Whatever else it might entail, making live theater begins with real estate -- a plot of land and a building to accommodate both a stage and an audience. And as any veteran of the cramped, repurposed storefronts with doubt ... More >>

The Original Django and a Sing-Along Fiddler on the Roof: Your Weekly Movie To-Do List

See also: *More L.A. Weekly Film Coverage *Our Calendar Section, Listing More Great Things to Do in L.A. Our weekly list of special event movies: Friday, Dec. 21 Those excited for Django Unchained, the new film from our cover boy, Quentin Tarantino, should check out Django, the 1966 Sergio Corbu ... More >>

How Ozwald Boateng Helped Invent the Suits Men Wear Today

Ozwald Boateng barely made it to L.A. from Hurricane Sandy-ravaged New York. He got stranded at a strange time -- just days before the premiere of his documentary film, A Man's Story, which chronicles both his professional and personal life, and is nearly 15 years in the making. But he's here, sitti ... More >>

Theatre in the Dark Is Exactly That. Dark. Blackness. No Lights. Got It?

It's the kind of what-if that gives lighting designers the night sweats: What if the artistic director at one of L.A.'s premiere stages got it into his head to produce theater without any lights at all? What would that experience be like? Would audiences respond? Would they even notice? Such questi ... More >>

This Crazy L.A. Theater Production Has Actors Throwing Punches Backstage and Audience Members Having Sex

See also: *L.A. Weekly's review of No Love. *One of the Craziest Onstage Line Flubs of All Time In playwright Andrew Osborne's new play, the pitch-black "comedy" No Love, no one onstage is getting any love. But there is a lot of sex and nudity, not to mention violence, gunshots and profane language ... More >>

The Para Abnormals

How to Grow Weed in Los Angeles If Dispensaries Go Away

See Also: Medical Weed's Stay of Execution in L.A. Inside 420 W. Pico Ave. in downtown L.A., patients can pick their treatment from a menu; the strains of marijuana have names like "skittles," "sour diesel" and "sucker punch." The main attraction at Kush Connection, though, is "Master Yoda" -- known ... More >>

Mary Poppins, Moliere, 12 Angry Men and a Japanese Swordfight Play in This Week's New Theater Reviews

A bucket full of enthusiastic reviews this week, starting with the Pick of the Week, Sweet Thursday, Pacific Resident Theatre's stage adaptation of the novel by John Steinbeck. Also garnering good notices: Neo Ensemble Theatre's Epic Proportions, Moliere's The Fools at Santa Monica Playhouse, also i ... More >>

Keanu Reeves Shows Off His Inner Filmmaking Wonk After Screening of Side by Side

When most people think of Keanu Reeves, "inquisitive cinephile" may not be the first description that comes to mind. With roles in films from the action flick Point Break to cult-fave fantasy franchise,The Matrix, the mild-mannered actor is known more for his signature, low-key line delivery than hi ... More >>

DocuWeeks 2012 Preview

DocuWeeks tackles issues ranging from a gay bishop to an underwater garden in Baja

Sex-Change Comedy (Missing Dick), in the Latest New Theater Reviews, Plus New Works Festivals Bustin' Out

REDCAT's annual New Original Works Festival opens this weekend with Poor Dog Group's The Murder Ballad; Opera Povera's To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation; and puppeteer Susan Simpson's, Exhibit A. For compete schedule visit redcat.orgNext week, the Ojai Playwri ... More >>

Summer Shakespeare Smackdown in NoHo: Respectable vs. Radical

Why the works of William Shakespeare should be associated with the summer months is anyone's guess. Beyond having written A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Winter's Tale, there is scant evidence to support any seasonal preference on the Bard's part when it comes to staging his plays. What is certain ... More >>

Obama's Marijuana Moments: Top 5 Stances, Statements And Subterfuges

The Left Coast is rejoicing today after President Obama announced that same-sex couples should be able to marry. And it wasn't lost on us that he made the statement on the eve of a fundraising trip to George Clooney's house tonight in the hills above Studio City. Maybe the timing was intended to he ... More >>

Lord of the Rings Parody Musical Fellowship! Returns to L.A., With Superfans

You might say that Fellowship! The Musical Parody of The Fellowship of the Ring has gone there and back again. After originating at NoHo's El Portal Theatre in 2004 and winning L.A. Weekly Theater Awards for Best Comedy Ensemble and Best Musical of 2005, Fellowship! played to great acclaim in San D ... More >>

Music Picks: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Esperanza Spalding, Jack White

Also, the Crystelles, Arturo Sandoval, Backbiter and others

Guy Maddin's Keyhole Reviewed

A dreamworld of ideas, bolted shut

L.A. Weekly Theater Awards 2012: The Winners

​​L.A. Weekly 's 33rd annual theater awards took place tonight at the Avalon in Hollywood, honoring the best work on our small stages from 2011, as judged by our theater critics. Small Engine Repair presented by Rogue Machine at Theatre/Theater won production of the year, while Re-Animator The ... More >>

Troubadour Theater Company: Clown Posse

Top 10 Strip Clubs in Los Angeles

So you're curious to go to a strip club, but unless your buddy is a regular and brings you along, how are you going to pick which one? Yelp? Give me a break. Thankfully for you, our L.A. Weekly experts have compiled the top ten strip clubs in L.A. But don't get too excited -- save it for the girls.

6370 Laurel Canyon Blvd., North Hollywood: Anoush Banquet Hall

No doubt oodles of festive fun have been had within this faux fortification in the heart of the Valley. But Anoush's banal, mixed references to formal gateways and stonework of historic Roman, Persian and Islamic architectural forms is confused at best, tacky at worst and amounts to a cultural stere ... More >>

Top 10 Plays We Want to See in 2012

The venerable "best bets for the new year" critic's post always carries with it the uncertain odor of the racetrack tout. Even the seeming sure things -- the NYC-anointed, blue-chip transfers of Broadway hits -- are too often diminished by dispiriting changes in the cast or production design that ca ... More >>

Marijuana Crackdown in Southern California as Feds Move to Take Assets of Four Dispensaries

Bad times for pot shops in Southern California. Dispensary operators in Long Beach were recently convicted for ... selling weed. L.A. City Hall's move to ban them outright is gaining momentum. And today the U.S. Attorney's Office announced that it's going to take everything that belongs to targeted ... More >>

The End of the World As We Know It

Sunset 5 Theater Closes

The end of an era, and what it means for the L.A. art house landscape

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey Review

Know Your L.A. Hip-Hop Dances: The Evolution Of Krump

Dave LaChapelle's "Rize"​Editor's Note: Writer Jessica A. Koslow is a USC master's student writing her thesis on krumping. Know Your L.A. Hip-Hop Dances explores some of the most popular street dances in our city. Krump Background: Krumper Lil' C holds court on So You Think You Can Dance, an ... More >>

Let's Get Ready to Taco!

NoHo Food Truck Cook-Off Invites Amateur Taco Slingers

Guzzle and Nosh​"Nothing ever happens in North Hollywood"? The NoHo Taco Cook-Off is the third in a series of events -- the NoHo Food Truck festivals in March and June being the first and second -- that brings together local music, dance performances and food in an effort to show off this part ... More >>

Kurt K. Billie, Suspect in Arson Fires in North Hollywood, Said to be Convicted Arsonist in Japan

ABC7The NoHo fires.​Updated at the bottom with the suspect being held in lieu of a quarter million bail. First posted at 4:11 p.m. Those scary arson fires in North Hollywood -- at least 18 in all -- might be over. Authorities this morning arrested a man in North Hollywood who was in allegedly ... More >>

Serial Arsonist on The Loose in North Hollywood: 14 Fires Over Weekend, 18 Since Thursday

ABC7The aftermath in NoHo.​Authorities say a serial arsonist on the loose in North Hollywood set as many as 18 fires in the "Lankershim corrodior" since early Thursday, including 14 early Saturday and Sunday. Luckily no one was injured, and most of the blazes seem to have involved cars parke ... More >>

Closet Land

Stage Raw: Bash'd

NEW THEATER REVIEWSStage FEATURE on Radar L.A.Sean LambertBash'd, A Gay Rap Opera​A string of recommends comes with this week's theater reviews: Bash'd, A Gay Rap Opera at Celebration Theatre, Blackbird at Rogue Machine, Blood Wedding at the Odyssey, Broadsword at the Back Dahlia, Closet Land at ... More >>

The Birthday Boys

Theater Reviews; The Comedy of Errors, The Birthday Boys, The Woodpecker

Also A Night at the Oscars, Women in Shorts and more

Coming of No Age

The Smell darlings graduate to the Hollywood Bowl (with a Craigslist amp)

Brick's Picks: Bunny Bop

Hopping around with the Playboy Jazz Festival, the L.A. Jazz Quartet and Kim Richmond's Concert Jazz Orchestra

Dog Day Afternoon: Bites of Chicago in L.A.

A frank discussion of a family obsession

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Concerts Clubs Other Rock & Pop