Yesterday marked the first day for a new approach of policing in Santa Monica. A community patrol model has been adapted, as told by the LA Times. For those who live in Los Angeles, the Senior Lead Officer (SLO) program comes to mind. In Santa Monica, this is how it will work:Under the plan, the 8.5-square-mile city of about 88,000 has been divided into eight areas with nine or 10 officers assigned to each,......

Stage and screen choreographer Michael Kidd died this past Sunday in Los Angeles at the age of 92, according to the New York Times. From his beginnings in Brooklyn, Kidd moved over to Manhattan to dance and create dances for dance companies including Lincoln Kirstein's Ballet Caravan (1937), Eugene Loring's Dance Players (1941) and Ballet Theater, the predecessor to the American Ballet Theater (1942-47). Soon after dance critic Edwin Denby opined that Kidd’s talents “leaned......

It's too bad that Ali Larter's power in Heroes isn't the ability to seduce Hayden Panettiere. Is Blades of Glory the last funny Will Ferrell movie? His act is getting ripe. Make Anchorman 2 quickly, damn it! Year of the Dog was one of the most depressing movies in years. Everyone says I should watch Friday Night Lights. Is it better than Greek? How could it be? Jamie Kennedy may have finally reached the......

A fairly mundane week of new releases. Hannibal Rising has a definite Queen of the Damned stench to it. Never saw the original Eating Out but folks sure are lining up to buy the sequel. Sharon Stone's beaver in glorious 1080i! Wayne Knight's accompanying flop-sweat in glorious 1080i! Will probably hold off on buying the Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition since I hear the Superman Double Ultimate Collector's Edition is coming this Christmas. Kevin Dillon's......

Grindhouse The week begins with a John Hayes double feature. In Grave of the Vampire, legendary vampire Kroft awakens and rapes a woman in a graveyard. The resulting child doesn't need milk. He needs… blood! This is paired with Jailbait Babysitter, which stars Therese Pare as a teenager who's turned out by an older prostitute (Lydia Wagner). Wednesday and Thursday it's a double-bill of Hong Kong action beginning with the Bruce Li (not to be......

Late last night actor Don Knotts died at UCLA Medical Center; he was 81. Knotts was goofy-looking, with a scrawny neck, bulging eyes and huge ears, and his gift for physical comedy earned him 5 Emmys playing Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show." Sometimes his mugging for the camera made us squirm (can you say "Three's Company"?), but he created onscreen geeks that will survive in pop culture for a long, long time. He......