This weekend the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica offers a well-deserved tribute to one of the hardest working directors in the industry, William Friedkin. Both Saturday and Sunday nights will feature talkbacks with Friedkin, moderated by journalist F.X. Feeney and screenwriter Josh Olson respectively. more ›

Woody Allen (Vicky Cristy Barcelona, Manhattan, Annie Hall) and William Friedkin (the Exorcist, the French Connection) collaborate with the Los Angeles to bring you their vision of Giacomo Puccini's Il Trittico. Il Trittico is made up of three one-act operas, "Il Tabarro", "Suor Angelica", and "Gianni Schicchi". James Conlon conducts the orchestra and Tony-award winning Santo Loquasto will design the set. "Il Tabarro" is about a tragic love triangle, filled with dark and violent undertones. "Sour Angelica" is a story of redemption and contains some of Puccini's best known melodies. This opera was considered his favorite, and is actually the least performed of the three. The most popular is the third act, which is based off of Dante's "the Divine Comedy". This comedic opera involves the story of a family obsessed with the death of a family member, and how they try to extort some money since he has donated all of it to the nearby monastery. This includes the famous aria "O Mio Babbino Caro," which shows up all over the place, whether it's in a Mr. Bean movie, a Charlie Brown special, or a Grand Theft Auto III trailer. Although all three operas sound distinct in their own way, the themes of death and realism tie each of them together. This is Woody Allen's first foray into operatic directing, although he has been friends with Domingo for over 20 years, with talks of a "La Boheme" film. more ›

We assume that you have places to go and things to do. You are undaunted by rain. You will not, we're sure, be staying home for a double feature of '80s DVD. Like, say, To Live and Die in LA (complete with theme song by the incomparable Wang Chung) and Beverly Hills Cop (with theme song by the Pointer Sisters). more ›