True Brit

Paul Malcolm
"There was a definite point when that happened," says English filmmaker Shane Meadows, recalling the moment several years ago that persuaded him to abandon a life of crime and direct his energies toward making movies. "I got caught pinching a breast pump for a single mum," he says, humiliation rising......

Hard Times

Manohla Dargis
PUBLIC HOUSINGDirected, edited and produced by FREDERICK WISEMANPhotographed by JOHN DAVEYFilmForum at LACE6522 Hollywood Blvd.Sunday, May 3, 7 p.m.For information, call 213-526-2911. LES MISERABLESDirected by BILLE AUGUSTWritten by RAFAEL YGLESIASFrom the novel by VICTOR HUGOProduced by SARAH RADCLYFFE and JAMES GORMANStarringLIAM NEESONGEOFFREY RUSH UMA THURMAN and CLAIRE DANESReleased by ColumbiaCitywide......
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Moscow on the Rhine

Daniel Akst
St. Petersburg has a lot of history with Germany. In 1914, with Russia soon to suffer defeat in World War I, the Russian capital was renamed Petrograd because St. Petersburg sounded too German. Ten years later, when the father of the Soviet Union died, it became Leningrad in his honor,......
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Monsieur Naturel

Brendan Bernhard
It’s a dirty job, and no one has to do it. It’s one o’clock on a rainy afternoon, and I’m standing on a bridge staring at the wet ramparts of a medieval village in the south of France, wondering what I’m doing here. Back in L.A., where this scheme was......
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Monstrous Disgrace

Alan Rich
There was a tingle in the news. UCLA’s Royce Hall, shut for over four years of earthquake repairs and retrofitting, was to reopen its doors with a most newsworthy event: a major collaboration between those blithe, innovative spirits, director/designer/poet Robert Wilson and maximally renowned minimalist composer Philip Glass, together again......

Mouse Trapped

LA Weekly
We had forgotten how easy — and fun — it can be to jerk the chain of a mouse-eared multinational entertainment conglomerate named Disney. It seems that OffBeat’s missive last week on Disney’s faltering big-ticket venture into "new media" touched a nerve with the head lady at Disney Interactive, Jan......

Alatorre’s Tangled Web

Marc B. Haefele
A startling plaudit appeared in last week’s letters section from none other than school-board member David Tokofsky. Tokofsky alleged, "I suspect that the constituents of the 14th [City Council District] are in for a dramatic loss of services and representation if Councilman Alatorre is not there in 1999." Actually, the......

Rumble on Rodeo

Harold Meyerson
On the afternoon of Wednesday, April 8, police moved in to cordon off the doors of the Summit Rodeo, a pricy small hotel nestled among still pricier retail establishments on Beverly Hills’ priciest street. They had been summoned by hotel management to preserve the sanctity of the lobby from the......

Boho Rhapsody

Johnny Angel
I turned 40 years old on the road between Providence and Boston. My band, Creeps in Exile, was on its final tour, one month before dissolving, and this night had seen us before a crowd of 15 indifferents, which creates a feeling not unlike a root canal if you’re the......
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White Glove Hamburgers

Jonathan Gold
Julienne may be the last restaurant of its type in Los Angeles County, a patio café in the heart of San Marino’s small downtown that rolls the experiences of La Coupole, Mayberry R.F.D. and the Bullocks Wilshire tearoom all into one. Julienne is a white-glove lunchroom at the nexus of......