The Frame

The late L.A. artist Carlos Almaráz is the subject of a new exhibition at the L.A. County Museum of Art; filmmaker Gregory Monro spotlights Jerry Lewis' directing career in "The Man Behind the Clown;" playwright Gretchen Law remembers comedian and activist Dick Gregory, the subject of her play, "Turn Me Loose."

First-time director Geremy Jasper drew from his musical past to make "Patti Cake$," the story of an overweight, white female rapper; the film 'La La Land' gets a drag parody that's so bad it's good; summer box office numbers are down 12 percent from last year. What's keeping fans away from the multiplex?

Spotify takes down some white supremacist music; Disney Jr. show "Doc McStuffins" draws praise and some criticism for a recent episode that includes a family with same-sex parents; “Gook,” a new film written, directed by and starring Justin Chon, revisits the 1992 L.A. riots from the perspective of Korean Americans.

Apple plans to spend $1 billion on original content to rival streaming services; "Lemon" filmmakers Janicza Bravo and Brett Gelman channel their own anxieties into an uncomfortable comedy; Adam Langdon plays a character with an unspecified disorder in the stage adaptation of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time."

What goes into playing Jaime Lannister on "Game of Thrones?" Where did Nikolaj Coster-Waldau find the time to make the new movie "Shot Caller?" The Danish actor opens up about all this and more; investigations are underway in Vancouver where a fatal stunt occurred Monday on the set of “Deadpool 2.”

Producer Will Packer has several hit movies under his belt, and now he has the provocative TV series, "Black America," in the works at Amazon; Shonda Rhimes' move is a major development in the networks’ ongoing struggle with the aggressive streaming services.

Choreographer Kenny Ortega talks about his long-time love of musicals and his dream to make a musical about a gay teenager who comes out; Soundcloud was on the brink of shutting down until new investors surfaced; in "Morningside 5," filmmaker Mike Tollin revisits the subjects of "Hardwood Dreams," his film about high school NBA hopefuls.

In part 2 of our chat Steven Soderbergh, he talks about why "Logan Lucky" was the movie to bring him back to filmmaking. Then, we go behind the scenes at the Hollywood Bowl to find out what exactly goes into making that music sound so good out there, and with the TCA press tour over we find out what's to be learned about the state of the TV business.

With "Logan Lucky," Soderbergh returns to the big screen with a new strategy for indie filmmaking; Disney decides to go its own way with plans to launch two streaming services; a new virtual reality experience puts you into flatline mode.

Aubrey Plaza is changing things up with her role in the FX show, “Legion,” and in two movie parts this summer, including the mentally unbalanced title character in “Ingrid Goes West”; When actor Algee Smith auditioned for “Detroit,” director Kathryn Bigelow did not give him the script or tell him much about the film. Smith chats with John about Bigelow’s unusual process.

The Marley family has launched a line of marijuana products to be distributed at dispensaries around the country; Catherine Opie shows a wide range of her work in three current L.A. exhibitions; John Horn and Kyle Buchanan assess the Academy Awards campaign season.

"The Hateful Eight" came along at the right time for Jennifer Jason Leigh, and won her an Oscar nomination; the infamous freeway chase was diligently re-created for "American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson"; things are getting slightly better for female characters in movies, but only slightly.

“The Big Short” was originally to be released this year, but writer-director Adam McKay pushed it up and the result is five Oscar nominations; "Daily Show" Samantha Bee made a strong debut with her new late night show; with the primaries in full swing, which candidates are getting support from Hollywood?

The McFerrins recently performed their first-ever full concert together, and the father-and-son spoke about it after the show; Beyoncé surprised her fans with a new song and video that quickly dominated the cultural conversation; Big Freedia is the Big Easy's queen of bounce music.

After making three films with Joel and Ethan Coen, Josh Brolin says he still sometimes can't figure out their cryptic directing; the artists who installed a teahouse in Griffith Park last year are now transforming a downtown L.A. alley for one day; the Sundance Film Festival's commitment to inclusion has become a beacon for filmmakers such as Jason Lew.

The latest offbeat comedy from Jonathan Krisel is "Baskets," which stars Zach Galifianakis as a struggling clown; virtual reality projects had a huge presence at this year's Sundance Film Festival; "Kung Fu Panda 3" is the first big studio film to screen in English and a Chinese language in the U.S.

Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander, creators of "The People v. O.J. Simpson," talk about finding new ways to tell the familiar story; Slate TV critic Willa Paskin on why viewers are ignoring Trevor Noah; Drake's use of "Hotline Bling" for a phone ad was inevitable.

Brian Oakes tells the story of his childhood friend who became a conflict journalist in "Jim: The James Foley Story"; Mark Mangini made a battle truck sound like a living beast in "Mad Max: Fury Road"; residents of Leimert Park and Montebello connect in "Through the Looking Glass."

Elba's trophy for best supporting actor in "Beasts of No Nation" rekindles debate over his Academy Award snub; James Schamus used to buy films at Sundance as the head of Focus Features, but this year he was there with his directorial debut.

It's a new chapter in U.S.-Chinese relations — cinematically speaking. “Kung Fu Panda 3” opened simultaneously here and in China, thanks to a partnership between DreamWorks and its partners there; writer-director Sian Heder's feature debut was inspired by her experiences as a nanny.

A powerful documentary about the aftermath of the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut premiered at the Sundance Film Festival; Rihanna's new album had a surprise (or maybe not?) release this week; the L.A. Art Fair aims to be the nexus for art from the Pacific Rim.

Nate Parker spent seven years making "The Birth of a Nation," and his efforts paid off as the breakout hit at the Sundance Film Festival; prominent comedians take to the stage to benefit Bernie Sanders' campaign; Larry Klein's work with Joni Mitchell made him a go-to producer for a wide variety of singers.