In the spirit of newly opened roads and treacherous villans, today's video lunch is an inspired car chase montage of James Bond getaways and bad guys in twisted metal fireballs. Be sure to wear your seatbelt. more ›

Renowned UK film composer whose iconic James Bond theme created a mood that launched a legacy, has died of a heart attack in New York at 77. The BAFTA fellow and OBE recipient won 5 Academy Awards for his work on Out of Africa, Dances With Wolves, Born Free, and The Lion In Winter. The emotional allure of Barry's sound is recognizable in brassy arrangements, often-jazzy choices and swoon-worthy strings. Barry is responsible for 11 James Bond films, however his under-discussed score for Peggy Sue Got Married contains the single most beautiful musical cue of all time. If you dont weep when you hear it your heart is made of twigs. The entire piece is exceptional, but (1:35) is where the crying starts. RIP John Barry. more ›

Irvin Kershner, USC graduate, USC professor, director of the Star Wars film, “The Empire Strikes Back” and the James Bond film “Never Say Never Again,” has died at age 87. The Philly-born Kershner passed away Saturday in Los Angeles after a long illness and is survived by two sons. more ›

I'm always stuck when it comes to New Year's resolutions. I've already got a great job, a beautiful lady & a weekly soap-box to rave about my favorite theaters. But there's always room for improvement. For instance, I'm not as curmudgeonly as I'd like. Luckily, the Aero has my late lifecoach, W.C. Fields, and two of his finest films to help me on my way. I'd also like to increase my martini consumption. New Year's Eve is a lovely opportunity to brush up, but if I'm resolving to do this, I should enroll in the Egyptian Theatre's weekend seminar, led by inspirational drinker James Bond. more ›

I can't tell you where or how I first learned of Damon Packard, but his experimental-nostalgic-acid-horror-collage Reflections of Evil melted my brain forever. Packard excels at melding "borrowed" footage from '70s TV, science fiction & God knows what else with his own paranoid fantasies for pure cinematic psychosis. more ›

No, really - did some memo go around saying all film festivals had to be scheduled within the same two-week period? The Polish Film Festival continues, flanked by the South-East European Film Festival & the last stands of the Los Angeles Jews & the Pacific Asian subcontinent. But with all the talk of Iran lately, the Noor ("light" in Arabic) Film Festival may prove the most noteworthy. While stark, realistic Iranian New Wave films by the likes of Abbas Kiarostami & Mohsen Makhmalbaf have nabbed accolades at Western film festivals for decades, less "artsy" films like the historical epic Flags of Kaveh's Castle & crime thriller In The Dark reveal a different side of the country. This theme of revelation & East-West conflict motivates much of the festival, coming to a most human (and most absurd) head with Donkey In Lahore, undoubtedly the first and only documentary to follow a Gothic Australian puppeteer, his teenaged Pakistani fiance & her traditional Muslim family.
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I was kind of unhappy at how PBS dropped off Super Tuesday coverage fairly early in the evening. Political sickos pretty much had to rely on CNN which was all tech-ed out: did you see that crazy stage Wolf Blitzer was on? How about the map with _way_ too much information? They didn't even know where to look on that thing and neither did I. Was I looking at specific precincts reporting, or was it statewide? Etc. The pack of political neanderthals they gathered for us was also uninspiring - can they not find some people _without_ political agendas to put on their programs? Who would ever want to hear anything from (the now morbidly obese) Bill Bennett? He's George Wendt without the humor. One thing's for sure, Super Tuesday is now too close too the Super Bowl and makes for an overwhelming 72 hour period, which is fine if you're a TV junkie. more ›

Pixar's long streak of superb movies is starting to feel vaguely satanic, but I'm willing to keep embracing evil as long as it's this rich and funny. is finally on DVD so prepare for 720p vidcaps of Biel ass. more ›

Those who believe we shouldn't be covering Orange County, cover your eyes for a few seconds: okay! O.C. Sheriff Mike Carona, his wife, and many others used the Sheriff's office as a cover to accept gifts, loans, and other compensation totalling $350,000. Carona has been indicted on ten separate federal counts of corruption. That big rig crash on the 405 at La Tijera was a real doozy -- the accident wasn't cleaned up until... more ›

Many great gifts have come from the French; the Statue of Liberty, "French fries" and of course Gerard Depardieu. None of these gifts, however are going to be much help should James Bond or John McClane come running for you. That's where the urban art form rooted in the streets of Paris known as Parkour, or l'art du déplacement, will come in handy. If you'd like to learn this art form without tasting concrete, PK... more ›

One of the nice little bonus touches that some films include are outtakes as the credits roll, or fancy graphics, or a special scene telling everyone to leave the theater (a la "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"), but "Superbad" has taken it a step further. The surprise summer hit comedy apparently displays a montage of drawings featuring penises during its end credits, a trend that some other films are being noted for. The trend being... more ›

We don't know about you, but it's friggin cold out there. Well, not for some of you. It seems as though places that are supposed to be cold are warm and places that are supposed to be warm are cold. Or maybe that's just us. Either way, we're freezing. more ›

Joseph Mailander is editor of Martini Republic, a local blog, a national blog, a political and cultural blog, but most of all, a toper's blog at heart. Beyond Joseph, Dr. Cocktail (Ted Haigh), Tod Mesirow (of Monster Garage fame) and anonyblogger Alex DeLarge (an obvious surly drunk) all monitor the beverage industry there with the kind of scrutiny that puts them at the top of all beverage industry blogrolls. MartiniRepublic's fabled drinks blog is... more ›

Veteran's Day Weekend Edition Today "The O'Reilly Factor/Hannity & Colmes/On the Record With Greta Van Susteren" (FOX, 5:00/6:00/7:00 p.m.) Watch Fox pundits continue to spin Tuesday's election results "NBA Basketball" (ESPN, 5:00 p.m.) Miami Heat @ New Jersey Nets "College Football" (ESPN2, 5:00 p.m.) Watch red-staters pour their anguish and disappointment into the Friday night lights: Texal-El Paso @ Alabama-Birmingham "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" (Nickelodeon, 5:00 p.m.) Toddlers and college stoners rejoice "College Basketball"... more ›