A 34-year-old chimpanzee that was raised in a West Covina family's home for three decades escaped from a wildlife sanctuary in San Bernardino County Friday night. Animal control officials and volunteers searched the nearby San Bernardino National Forest Saturday St. James Davis brought Moe home from Tanzania in the 1960s, after the chimp's mother was killed by poachers, and he and his wife raised the chimp in their West Covina home as if he were......

How do you say "circling vultures" in Spanish? | Photo courtesy of Paramount Vantage I'm still a bit surprised that Into the Wild was so completely overlooked during awards season. Sure it meandered a bit, but the acting and directing were all top-notch. And how on earth was Eddie Vedder's "Hard Sun" skipped over by the Academy in favor of three--three!--songs from Enchantment? This may sound weird, but I liked everything about Mr. Magorium's......

Lakers 108, Mavs 104, OT - The Laker's season just keeps getting sweeter. This time, it was all Kobe Bryant -- who managed to score even when triple-teamed. End result? 52 points, including 22 in the 4th quarter and 8 in OT. It was the first game between the refurbished Laker's (Pau Gasol had 17 points and 14 rebounds) and the refurbished Mavs (Jason Kidd had 15 points and 11 assists). The win keeps Los......

Last Thursday evening, photographer/director Octavio "Winkytiki" Arizala (MySpace) celebrated the release of his Vivid-Alt (MySpace) movie The Bad Luck Betties at the Redwood Bar & Grill in Downtown LA. Also in attendance, besides Bad Luck Betties' "Smoking" Mary Jane (MySpace) and Mika Tan (MySpace) and newcomers Sochee and Mika, were Vivid-Alt head Eon McKai (MySpace), photographer/director Dave Naz (MySpace) and his girlfriend Ashley Blue, and director Vena Virago (MySpace). The party was presented in......

This apartment complex next to the NoHo Metro Red Line was rumored to have many gang-related police calls when it opened | Photo by lavocado@sbcglobal.net via Flickr So that's why cops were all over the Valley this morning. The Daily News is reporting that around 200 cops raided 15 homes, arresting 16, in an early morning operation called "Wild Card" which is "the police department's effort to challenge a particularly active and violent clique......

Photo courtesy of Miramax When was the last time an actor executed a more profound career turnaround than Casey Affleck? Gone Baby Gone is his second superb performance of the year. If you don't see it for him, see it for Amy Ryan's breakout, Oscar-nominated turn. The mere presence of the divine Anne Hathaway makes Becoming Jane worth renting. James McAvoy was better in this than in the over-hyped (but still good) Atonement. No......

Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers In what can only be seen as a ratification of Mike Huckabee's belief that Satan actually exists, Fool's Gold roared to the top of the box office this weekend with a robust take of $22M. Plans are already underway for a third Kate Hudson-Matthew McConaughey pairing, tentatively titled Shit Sandwich. In further bad news, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins finished second with a healthy gross of $17.1M in its first......

For over seven years, the Rebels of Comedy have created a warm and welcoming environment in one of America's most notoriously vicious industries. The comedy troop regularly brings Los Angele venues the biggest names and best up-and-coming talent in stand-up. Tonight, the Rebels will put on two shows at the Hollywood Improv featuring Joe Rogan (Fear Factor) and Ahmed Ahmed (Axis of Evil Comedy Tour and Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Tour), plus a wild......

I'm for feeding birds all year, but as we're celebrating it this month, stop a moment and be grateful that our warm-blooded friends live in the California climate. As the Wild Bird Centers of America reminds us: - A typical backyard bird doesn't weigh as much as two nickels. - Birds spend most of their waking hours searching for food -- without the help of "hands" and "fingers". - They may consume 15% of their......

Photo courtesy of Picturehouse Entertainment After the awful Fred Claus, Vince Vaughn owes us some laughs and Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland might be just the ticket. It follows Vaughn and four hand-picked comedians as they cross the country to play an exhausting 30 shows in 30 nights. There are a bevy of on-stage celebrity cameos and Vaughn never lets his out-sized persona......

Clippers 95, Hawks 88 - The Clips got an unexpected performance from rookie Al Thornton, who exploded for a career high 33 points the day after a major stomach virus. Los Angeles fielded their 20th different starting lineup of the year, and are currently missing Chris Kaman and Corey Maggette. Next up, a seven game road trip. That's not so bad -- the Lakers have a 9 game trip lined up. Wild 5, Ducks 1......

"No Country For Old Men," "There Will Be Blood," "Juno," "Michael Clayton," and "Atonement" all received nominations for Best Picture this morning, as the Academy Award nominations were announced in Beverly Hills. "No Country" and "There Will Be Blood" are the front runners with eight noms apiece, including a Best Actor nod for perennial Oscar fav Daniel Day-Lewis, and directing nominations for the Coen Bros. and Paul Thomas Anderson. While Javier Bardem was recognized......

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the worst opening weekend of the year! Granted, it's only the first weekend of the year but with a mere one movie opening--one!--I think it may hold the title for the next 51 weeks. That movie, of course, is One Missed Call. It's your typical, 'let's trick bored teenagers into seeing another bad re-make of a better Japanese horror film.' I thought that trend had run its course, but......

I had originally planned to forgo a "best of" list and just talk about all of the movies I enjoyed in this very deep and rich year. After some consideration, though, I decided I should stick my neck out a little bit and go with the best of the best. I'm sure I went with a few outliers and even ignored some consensus picks, but that's why you do these things, right? The hardest......

Tribune Company CEO Dennis FitzSimons will be stepping down at the end of the year, letting Chicago businessman Sam Zell take over the company. The Tribune Company owns the Los Angeles Times. President Bush signed a huge Energy Bill yesterday, in hopes of "reducing our dependence on oil, confronting global climate change, expanding the production of renewable fuels and giving future generations of our country a nation that is stronger, cleaner and more secure."......

In order to inspire you to get those last-minute cards in the mail today, here are four very personal holiday messages to and from your favorite musicians. WILD BILLY CHILDISH AND THE MUSICIANS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE - A Quick One (Pete Townshend's Christmas) The garage-spawned Childish remains up to no good in his latest venture, the quite fab Christmas 1979. For this one, he reimagines the final third or so of The Who's......

The Dodgers continued their off season wheeling and dealing, singing Japanese All-Star pitcher Hiroki Kuroda to a three-year deal believed to be worth $36 to $40 million. "This is a huge pickup for the Dodgers," said The Daily News' Tony Jackson, who may have been first to break the news. It's a lot of money, but winning the World Series does not come cheap. Just ask the Rockies. Two teens (age 18 and 19)......

I've always been intrigued by other "best of" lists, but this year I decided to take it to a whole new level. I e-mailed a handful of bands that I've seen this past year in order to unearth what exactly captivated them in '07. As music listeners, it is our duty to take a keen interest in our favorite musician's influences. After all, they rocked our little world, might as well see what rocked their......

I've always been intrigued by other "best of" lists, but this year I decided to take it to a whole new level. I e-mailed a handful of bands that I've seen this past year in order to unearth what exactly captivated them in '07. As music listeners, it is our duty to take a keen interest in our favorite musician's influences. After all, they rocked our little world, might as well see what rocked their......

MUSIC: Machine Project is back with an evening of experimental folk music mix. The evening features the sounds of Ryan Fuller, Julie Carpenter, Laura Steenberge, Ruthann Friedman, rickyricky, Pilar Diaz, Pawko and Marshweed. 8 pm // Machine Project // 1200 D. N. Alvarado, Downtown // Free. THEATRE: The Anteus Company presents two nights of eight Noel Coward plays. Night Two takes place tonight featuring the plays: Come The Wild - Red Peppers, Fumed Oak,......

In business since summer and reviewed then by LAist, The York is a gastropub in Highland Park located in the same spot that once housed The Wild Hare and before that, The Dragon. Looking nothing like its more quaint predecessors, The York offers drinks and food to the Northeast LA neighborhood in an updated, contemporary style. When business partners/owners, Ryan Ballinger and Gabe Byer took over the space, they tore out the old wood paneling......

Reporting is tough. Transcribing is tough. Transcribing live on tee vee is totally tough especially if there's a damn fire raging. Recently a captioner working for KABC made a mistake that Snopes confirmed to be true. Live broadcasts can present captioners with additional problems: Multiple speakers may talk at the same time, external noise may render some speech inaudible or otherwise difficult to understand, and some words and phrases used by speakers may be......

One of the great things about living in L.A. is the profusion of movie choices available. You can see everything from Beowulf in 3-D at the Bridge's IMAX theater to Into the Wild in one of the Landmark's Living Rooms to a revival screening of Bananas at the New Beverly. One of the best choices for more eclectic fare is the Silent Movie Theater. Every month they program several series, any of which is......

Mathieu Schreyer, the KCRW host of "On the Corner" was born in France. Maybe that explains why he didn't include Radiohead on his top ten list like most of his cohorts did. Voici: 1) Little Dragon - Little Dragon (Peacefrog) 2) Andy Bey - Ain't Necessarily So (12th Street Records) 3) Cinematic Orchestra - Ma Fleur (Domino) 4) Various Artists - Colombia!: The Golden Age of Discos Fuentes (Soundway Records) 5) Trus'me - Working......

It's sexy, it's sacrilegious, it's scandalous, and it's just in time for Christmas. LA's hottest art curator Lenora Claire has done it again with a new collection of saucy art pieces guaranteed to get folks hot and bothered. Mixing Christmas themes with ample female breasts and featuring the work of Austin Young, Kitten Natividad, Buff Monster, and our fave the Gay Bigfoot, among others, Claire chose not to rest on her laurels of the......

"Human activity" is what the LA Times is reporting is the cause of the fires. That's arson if it wasn't an accident. The most destructive fire in Malibu in nearly 15 years raced through parched canyons Saturday, consuming 49 homes and forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents. The so-called Corral fire burned 4,700 acres before the fierce Santa Ana winds died down, allowing firefighters to make a stand. By evening, the blaze, which......

The local tv news is doing something interesting today, they're really hyping their user- viewer-generated photographs during their broadcasts. KNBC's even went a step further. When it showed a slideshow of photos from its viewers, they added a bed of solemn music as their reporter narrated over the images. Too bad their website doesn't have a permalink to the images, but whatevs, they're trying. As good as the photos were from locals and amateurs,......

I'm a lucky bitch. But I'm grateful, and even though every day I walk across those stars on Hollywood and Vine, I still take some time to thank them for everything I've got. For one: I've had a great year professionally, and I'm glad to say I have both a day job and a writing gig that bring me immense satisfaction and fulfillment. I get up every morning and spend my day at a......

KT Tunstall - "Black Horse & The Cherry Tree" KT Tunstall @ Avalon Misfits @ House of Blues Spiritualized @ The Vista Black Dice, No Age, Mika Miko @ Echoplex Sondre Lerche @ Troubadour American Music Club @ Echo Jill Sobule, Julia Sweeney @ Largo The Whigs, Wild Sweet Orange @ Spaceland Falco Does It Dirty, Omissa, There Shall Be Blood @ Knitting Factory Back Door Slam @ Viper Room DTFM, Truth In Fiction,......

Sometimes it's great being able to lipread. Like back on Average Joe, when Jen said, "Do you think it's because I gave him a ...BLEEEEP?" She later tried to pass it off as "kiss" but she very clearly said, "Do you think it's because I gave him a blowjob?" Last night, bachelorette Hillary went all Girls Gone Wild. Even though they blurred out part of what she was saying, there was enough left to get......