Even on the best days, the Sundance Film Festival is an extremely hectic place to be. Screenings and events often overlap and are spread all over town, and even though the public transportation is good (and free!), it can still be a nightmare to get someplace quickly. Cabs can be hard to come by and parking (when available) is expensive. Furthermore, there are always going to be lines waiting for you so you have to plan to get everywhere fairly early. Sometimes, you get bit in the ass like I did (twice) yesterday. more ›

If any film cried out for a comprehensive DVD this year it was . more ›

While it's true that there's nothing better than teenage lesbian stories, celebrity teenage lesbian stories is like a cherry on top of a delicious sundae. more ›

Sy Safransky discusses his work and The Sun 7:30pm @ Beverly Hills Public Library more ›

David Fincher's obituary will likely refer to him as the director of Fight Club, but Zodiac is his most complete work. Luxuriate in its full 157 minutes this week when it reaches stores. The Number 23 had a pretty good trailer, but unfortunately the actual movie was longer than 90 seconds. Bring back Lloyd Christmas, Jim! Sure HBO seems to have the best shows on cable, but Showtime is quickly closing the gap. Weeds is its best series to date--funny, absurd, relevant and featuring uber-MILF Mary-Louise Parker. Prepare for the crappy live-action Underdog movie with the classic Underdog cartoons. Keeley Hazell's zoomers enliven a mannered, should-have-remained-a-short Cashback. Speaking of zoomers--nude, female French wrestlers? Yes, please! more ›

Monday Mike Carey presents The Devil You Know 7pm @ Book Soup Tuesday Doug Stumpf presents Confessions of a Wall Street Shoeshine Boy 7pm @ Book Soup Joy Horowitz presents Parts per Million: The Poisoning of Beverly Hills High School 7pm @ Central Library Michael Tucker signs Living a Foreign Language: A Memoir of Food, Wine and Love in Italy 7pm @ Dutton's Jerry Stahl presents Love Without 7pm @ Borders, Long Beach Thomas... more ›

Mark Wahlberg lights up TV screens this week as Shooter reaches the DVD shelves. I don't know about you, but this tale of double-crosses and revenge had a distinct late 80s/early 90s vibe to it for me. Did Sly pass on this script 20 years ago or was it Steve in '95? more ›

Susanna Moore signs The Big Girls 7pm @ Dutton's more ›

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam died yesterday in a car crash in Menlo Park, CA. He was 73. Halberstam’s work as a journalist ranges wide and delves deep. He covered the Korean War, the Vietnam War and civil rights but he was also fascinated with the humanity and spectacle of sports. He did not simply document the history he lived through – he explained complex societal constructs and cultural shifts in a way that anyone could easily understand. He was one of the only journalists who questioned the Vietnam War early on and it was this same questioning – throughout his life and his work – that allowed him to uncover facts that other journalists side-stepped. more ›

Monday P.J. O’Rourke signs On the Wealth of Nations 7pm @ Book Soup Adam Gopnick reads Through the Children's Gate 7:30pm @ Skirball Cultural Center Tuesday David Mamet signs Bambi vs. Godzilla 7pm @ Book Soup Edward Humes signs Monkey Girl 7pm @ Vroman’s Norman Mailer discusses Castle in the Forest with David Ulin 7:30pm @ Writers Guild Theater Daveed Gartenstein-Ross presents My Year in Radical Islam 7:30pm @ Barnes & Noble Santa Monica... more ›

Welcome to January, the month when studios traditionally take the shitty movies they've held off releasing the rest of the year and dump them onto unsuspecting audiences. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer -- Synesthesia is the coolest disorder ever! This is a neurological condition in which two or more bodily senses are entangled in "abnormal" ways (i.e. people with synesthesia might see a different color for each letter of the alphabet or smell... more ›

Yo La Tengo I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass Matador (2006) After digesting Yo La Tengo's last two records, the sublime "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out" (2000) and the somewhat sedate "Summer Sun" (2003), I thought perhaps they had entered their twilight years as a band. After 20 years of recording, touring and slowly but surely becoming indie rock icons the band, composed of guitarist Ira Kaplan,... more ›

LAist contributor Josh Spector reports: For two hours on Sunday night inside the House of Blues, rock 'n roll was everything it's meant to be - raw, dangerous, meaningful, and moving. Veteran So Cal rockers Social Distortion brought more than two decades worth of musicianship, urgency, ups and downs to the stage in an inspiring performance. more ›

We here at LAist are strong advocates of Halloween, and have provided the list below in an effort to help all of our readers enjoy this fine holiday as thoroughly as possible. Even if you don't get out there in full costume and party like Bela Lugosi, we hope you enjoy some of the following: more ›

Domenic will be discussing "Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece" at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena next Saturday, July 23, 2005 at. 3:00 PM. He'll be joined by Van Dyke Parks, Danny Hutton & Wilson collaborator Tony Asher at the reading. Go early, the reading at Book Soup last week attracted a large crowd. more ›

Southern California is lucky to have Domenic Priore, 45, as a native son. The author and documentary filmmaker has focused his considerable energy on documenting the heyday of the Sunset Strip music scene and Beach Boys hagiography resulting in books like his latest "Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece," which can be considered an adjunct to the documentary on Brian Wilson called "Beautiful Dreamer," and his upcoming book "Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood 1965/1966." more ›

THURSDAY more ›

The history of LA punk is a great one, and a story that has been told many times in the twenty-odd years since the initial flowering of the scene. Amidst the many bands that made it up, there's one little band that is often forgotten when looking at the greater whole: The Minutemen, the three-man powerhouse from Pedro. more ›

As the nights grow darker and colder, we seem to treasure light and make it the centerpiece of the winter season. Here are some upcoming events to get you in the mood: more ›