Ernest Hardy

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4/20 411: Reefer Madness

One measure of an icon's cultural reach is the extent to which it's referenced by folks who have no firsthand experience of it. Reefer Madness, directed by Louis Gasnier, is an iconic piece of American pop culture that has supplied punch-lines and riffs for folks who've never actually seen it......
Credit: Jonathan Kalan for KCRW

Live Review: Corinne Bailey Rae @ KCRW Benefit

There wasn't a lot of between-song banter last night as Corinne Bailey Rae kicked off her North American tour at a benefit concert for KCRW. Taking the stage in a simple black halter jumpsuit, she was pretty much about the business of making music. But that business was far from......
Chris Rock reunites with his Nurse Betty director for  Death at a Funeral.

Strange Death Fellows

"You know, if people just go into the theater looking to have a good time and to laugh, this film absolutely delivers," says director Neil LaBute of Death at a Funeral, the American remake of the minor-hit British film of the same name (it opens on April 16). That's not......
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Star-studded Method Film Fest's Hits and Misses

Celebrating its twelfth anniversary this year, Method Fest - whose raison d'etre is to showcase films driven by performances and strong stories, not special effects or global market potential - has slowly evolved into a very big deal. This year's films star such respected names as Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney,......
Neshoba

Romance and Resistance: 18th Pan African Film and Arts Festival

The Los Angeles Pan African Film and Arts Festival, celebrating its 18th anniversary this year, is one of the city's best film festivals, and last year's transfer of the festival's film program to the Culver Plaza Theaters from its longtime home at Magic Johnson Theaters finally places its programmed fare......
Who says nobody walks in L.A.?

Deep Zombie Throat

There’s been a serious miscommunication. Some of the porn stars hired for supporting roles in writer-director Bruce LaBruce’s gay-porn zombie film, L.A. Zombie, haven’t been told by producers that they are expected to actually have sex on film. Enticed by the prospect of working with LaBruce (Hustler White; No Skin......
Precious gem; Credit: Kevin Scanlon

For Colored Girls: The Sapphire Interview

On the evening of the Hollywood premiere of Precious, the film adaptation of the acclaimed 1996 novel Push by Sapphire (née Ramona Lofton), the author sits in a lounge in the Roosevelt Hotel, across the street from the hoopla taking place in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Following our interview,......
Cruz Angeles’ Don’t Let Me Drown

L.A. Latino International Film Festival: Padres y Niños

This year’s Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival kicks off with the presentation of the Gabriel Figueroa Lifetime Achievement Award to iconic Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, followed by a screening of his new film Broken Embraces, starring the auteur’s current muse, Penélope Cruz. If the $75 ticket price makes attending......