I am a journalist/writer. I love tea, digestive biscuits, cashmere, alpacas and David Brent. I can’t live without the internet, h&m, The Smiths, and John Lennon. I like babooshkas, reading children’s books, catching spelling mistakes, finding bargains, useless trivia and snow.
In the summer of 1994, Rudolph Giuliani’s crackdown and cleanup of New York City was in full force, Hip Hop had reached amazing highs, and Luke Shapiro was not only dealing pot, but dealing with the harsh realities of life as an 18-year-old. This is The Wackness, a coming of age story about a boy spending his last summer before college, selling dope to all of NYC, including his shrink as payment for therapy sessions and pining after his step-daughter, all the while facing family problems which he can’t control. Take it from me, The Wackness is anything and everything but wack. If there’s one movie you see this summer, forgo all others for this edgy, sweet, sometimes heartbreaking and hilarious tale with amazing performances and a killer soundtrack that you’ll be bopping your head to for weeks.
Featuring a well-rounded cast including Josh Peck, Olivia Thirlby, Ben Kinglsey, Mary Kate Olsen and Method Man, The Wackness makes you wish you could relive 1994 all over again.
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Tags: Film · Reviews
Method Man - also known as The Panty Raider, Ghost Rider, The Long John Silver, Johnny Blaze among other things, and last but not least, Clifford Smith is not only an accomplished hip hop artist, record producer and actor, he’s also got quite a charming personality on him.
In “The Wackness,” which ironically contains many of the hits he wrote, produced and performed, with the The Wu-Tang Clang, Method Man plays Percy, a Rastafarian drug lord who supplies Josh Peck’s character, Luke Shapiro, with weed to sell on the streets of New York.
Recently, Method Man sat down with Los Angeles CityZine at the press junket for “The Wackness” to discuss his role in the film, his thoughts on current artists, new projects, including a comic book and how it was like working with Sir Ben Kingsley.
How do you think this move reflected that era in New York and is it pretty accurate?
Yeah i think so, as far as Josh’s point of you, I didn’t know they had it that hard, I thought the white kids was rollin’. It was pretty spot on, the whole Giuliani thing, even down to blowing the Nintendo cartridge.
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Tags: Film · Interviews
Nothing signifies the start of summer more than Will Smith starring in an action movie in which he attempts to save mankind. Though Hancock is slightly different from your typical Will Smith action film (think Independence Day, Men in Black, I am Legend) with twists and turns you wouldn’t expect in a superhero action film, in the end, it’s just your typical summer distraction.
Directed by Peter Berg (The Kingdom), Hancock is the story of a superhero who does more damage than good. Living in Los Angeles, Hancock is despised by the public because of the path of destruction he leaves behind in his bid to fight criminals who terrorize the city. In his alcohol-filled daze, Hancock hates most people and the resident’s feelings towards him are pretty mutual.
Hancock is on his usual path of mayhem, when one day he says the life of wholesome public relations executive Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) by stopping a train from cutting his car (which is stuck on the train tracks) in two. Forever grateful for saving his life, Ray offers his PR services for free to help turn around Hancock’s infamous public image. What follows after is Ray encouraging Hancock to trust him to help turn his life around, a slick (and a bit homoerotic) superhero suit, and Charlize Theron as Ray’s wife Mary, whose attitude you just can’t seem to figure out.
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Tags: Film · Reviews
When Ben Kingsley walks into a room, no introduction is needed. His grace and presence cancel out the Sir in front of his name. Kingsley is one of the best of the best. He is in the top of his league. With Ghandi, Sexy Beast, Bugsy and The House of Sand and Fog under his belt, Kingsley has not only made it, he’s surpassed all.
In Jonathan Levine’s The Wackness, Kingsley plays Dr. Squires, a therapist badly in need of therapy himself who befriends a teenager to soon find out that they’re more alike than they both previously thought. Recently, Kingsley took time out to speak to LA.CityZine for his latest release The Wackness.
When you first heard about this project, did you have any advanced knowledge of this, what attracted you to the script, what made you want to do it?
What attracted me to the script was its perfect symmetry, it is a great comedy but it also has a heart, and of the heart it is this perfect symmetry of once upon a time there was a boy who had no parents, once upon a time there was a father who had no children. I love the way, if you start your story like that, the universe, in the story, finds a way of bringing these people together.
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Tags: Film · Interviews
TV
- LA Ink Casting Call | Thursday, June 26, 2008 | 5 p.m. | Red Rock - Map | If you love Kat Von D and her crew, consider heading down to Red Rock in West L.A. today to get a chance to have your tattoo done at the shop, on the new season of the show.
FASHION
- Runway Magazine Fashion Show | Thursday, June 26, 2008 | 8 p.m. | $20 | Boulevard 3 - Map | Fashion line Key Closet will debut their diamond studded $10,000 Jeans at Runway Magazine’s Summer Splash Fashion Show. If you’re a slave to fashion, you won’t want to miss this. As an added point on your karma meter, all proceeds benefit the Cops Care Cancer Foundation.
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Tags: Beverages · Local LA · Upcoming events
If you’ve landed on this post expecting a recap of the winners, speakers and honorees of the 50th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards Gala, then you’ve come to the wrong place. That information can be easily accessed through their website. I was all set to recap the evening when a series of unfortunate events prevented me from doing so.
Instead, I am here to tell you that for an organization whose main purpose is to honor ‘working journalists,’ the Los Angeles Press Club (LAPC) has quite a horrible way of treating them.
This might be a sweeping generalization of the whole of the club, so let’s focus in on the culprit: a Miss Diana Ljungaeus, the executive director of the LAPC and self-proclaimed “international journalist” with a chip on her shoulder and “rude” as her middle name.
The night began simply enough. LA.CityZine was invited as press to cover the So Cal Journalism Awards Gala at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. I should have known the night was going to be a bust when right before I began to get ready, the electricity spontaneously combusted for about 2 hours. Stuck in 105 degree weather, and forced to dress up, all the while driving in traffic to Downtown was not an ideal way to spend a Saturday, however I mustered up the energy to attend an event that honored everything I had a passion for: Southern California and Journalism.
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Tags: Editorials · Local LA
- Man dies in hang-gliding accident - A man whose identity has not yet been released died in a hang-gliding accident near a park in Sylmar on Saturday afternoon. Paramedics arrived at the scene and found bystanders performing CPR on the man, said Fire department spokeswoman d’Lisa Davies. The paramedics did take over, however the man quickly died, as he was in a very critical condition.
- Woodland Hills crash leaves two badly wounded - Two men were left in critical condition when their vehicle was involved in a rollover crash on the eastbound 101 Freeway at about 12:45 a.m. on Sunday. CHP officers said that one victim was ejected and left unconscious, while the other was critically injured. Witnesses told CHP that the vehicle was being driven recklessly just before the crash, reports the Daily News.
- Police offer shot while responding to indecent exposure call - One of two officers that were dispatched to the Best Western Raffles Inn in Anaheim in response to a report of a man exposing himself out the hotel was shot and wounded in the leg. It’s not clear if the suspect in the indecent exposure call was also the same person who fired shots, according to Anaheim Sgt. Rick Martinez. An investigation into the incident is underway, while the suspect remains at-large.
Photo by VeryBadLady
Tags: Local News · News
Music
- Make Music Pasadena: A Fete de la Musique | Saturday, June 21, 2008 | 10 a.m. | Free! | Pasadena Citywide Festival - Map |A unique festival event that’s amazingly free! Will feature performances by internationally known headliners including Dengue Fever, The Raveonettes, Kinky, The Little Ones and Jesca Hoop at four main stages and over 100 amateur musicians from every genre you can think of (indie rock, pop, Latin, classical, jazz).
Culture
- Russian Festival | Sunday, June 22, 2008 | 11 a.m. | Free! | Plummer Park - Map | The 7th Annual Russian Cultural Festival in West Hollywood will take place will celebrate the rich heritage and culture of L.A.’s Russian-speaking community. Event will include music, art, food, entertainment and business.
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Tags: Local LA · Upcoming events
- Becoming | Thursday, June 19, 2008 | Free | DF2 Gallery - Map | 70s-born artists Qui Xiaofei, Shen Liang, Li Jikai and Chen Ke mark a significant shift in Chinese contemporary art.
- Phantom Sightings: Art after the Chicano Movement | Thursday, June 19, 2008 | 2 p.m. | Cost included with admission | Los Angeles Count Museum of Art - Map | The largest exhibition of cutting-edge Chicano art ever presented at LACMA. This exhibition explores the experimental tendencies within this art movement, including conceptual art, performance, film, photo, media art and artistic interventions in urban spaces. Artists Christina Fernandez, Mario Ybarra Jr. and Nicola Lopez.
- Musicology 201 with Garth Trinidad | Thursday, June 19, 2008 | 8 p.m. | Free | California Plaza - Map | KCRW DJ Garth Trinidad holds a discussion about how Nigerian musician Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat sound has influenced music in the United States. Garth Trinidad has been the host of KCRW’s Chocolate City for the last 12 years, which has won numerous awards and enjoys a large and loyal following.
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Tags: Local LA · Upcoming events
As you’ve heard by now, due to the California Supreme Court ruling on May 15, same-sex marriage became legal in the State of California yesterday. Break out the champagne! Hundreds of same-sex couples turned out to put on paper what they’ve known in their hearts for what seemed like forever: they loved someone who loved them back.
Although a ballot initiative that’s headed to California come November could render their unions null and void, for many who headed down to the courthouses (who stayed up late to accommodate couples), they’re satisfied with the fact that they made history.
Among the newlyweds that solidified their unions was Star Trek actor George Takei who married his longtime partner Brad Altman and Phyllis Lyon, 84 and Del Martin 87,who tied the knot after 55 years together.
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Tags: Local News · News
- 15-year-old Northridge girl killed in Colorado River - Lauren Taguchi was on a watercraft that crashed with another watercraft piloted by Ricky Scott Ledford of Las Vegas. Ledford helped Taguchi to shore, but she was unresponsive when authorities arrived. She died at Palo Verde Hospital in Blythe. The crash is under investigation and deputies are asking anything with information to call Deputy Maxie Barker at the Sheriff’s Department Colorado River Station in Blythe at 760-921-7900.
- Suspected drunk driver dies in crash - A young man who may have been intoxicated died today in a crash when his vehicle veered off the road, sheared two utility poles and stuck a vehicle at a Metrolink work site in Sylmar today, authorities said. The accident occurred at about 2 a.m
- 2 women arrested on 5-year-old abuse charges - Starkeisha Brown, 24, her girlfriend Krystal Matthews, 21, were arrested this weekend on charges of “unbearable physical and psychological abuse” of a child, police said Saturday. The child, who belonged to brown was routinely beaten by the women and forced to put his hands on a hot stove. The women burned his body and genitals with cigarettes and often would not let him eat or drink, said police. LAPD Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell said at a news conference that because of the burns from the stove, the boy can no longer open his hands. Brown is being held without bail on charges of torture, while Matthews is being held on $100,000 bail on charges of willful harm or injury to a child.
Photo by VeryBadLady via Flickr
Tags: Local News · News
- Valencia woman stabs and kills, sentenced to 16 years - Samantha Elizabeth Rothwell, 21, who was convicted of second-degree murder for stabbing an acquaintance was sentenced yesterday to 16 years to life in prison. The murder of Walter Rivas,18 took place on Aug. 15, 2006 on the balcony of a Huntington Beach hotel room, where a group of acquaintances and friends had gathered to smoke. Rivas said that it had been such a beautiful day and that he had “seen God,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Sonia Balleste said. Rothwell replied, “I’m the devil and don’t talk about God or I’ll stab you,” then went to her room and came back with a small pocket knife and proceeded to stab Rivas in the jugular vein and back.
- Domestic violence suspect shot by Police - A man who shot and wounded his estranged wife was shot and wounded by deputies near the westbound Pomona (60) Freeway early this morning. Both man and woman, whose identities were not released, were bother recovering from gunshot injuries.
- Animal control officers find 155 dead cats in home - When animal control officers visited the home of Florence Handley, who runs a cat adoption service, they found 155 dead animals stuffed into homemade coffins. In addition, they took away 17 cats ( five of which were so sick they had to be euthanized) and left 69 cats, two rats and two rabbits under supervision. Handley and her son were cited for animal cruelty.
Photo by VeryBadLady via Flickr
Tags: Local News · News
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