Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society (SMBAS) invites the community to take a stroll through the Malibu Lagoon to observe some of the unique birds that travel through the area. SMBAS was founded in 1978 and since then they have made it a tradition to host monthly field trips on the fourth Sunday of every month. The Malibu Lagoon is... Read more →

  UR (Unrated) 94 Minutes Released August 18th The film Gook is set during the April1992 Los Angeles Riots, a peripheral backdrop that sets the cultural environment of the story. The characters seem to live in an emotional microcosm in the midst of that greater panorama of racial tension and violence. Director Justin Chon plays... Read more →

  Rated R 143 Minutes Released August 4   This movie will pick you up and throw you right out of your comfort zone - in this case that’s a positive aspect. This is a hard film to watch. However, as Maya Angelou so eloquently stated, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you... Read more →

  Summer’s starting to call it a day, but the arts keep on keeping on. This snippet-filled preview is a sampling of what’s happening in the next few days and weeks. The biggest news this September will be Pacific Standard Time LA/LA, a citywide festival celebrating Latin American and Latino art, with countless programs and... Read more →

  Probably one of the most heart-warming moments in any movie is  the image of Sylvester Stallone racing in triumph up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in “Rocky.” In 2015 it took three countries, Estonia, Finland, and Germany to co-produce a sports film that has moments that are comparable to that. This particular... Read more →

      Stan Lee was the subject of a love fest Tuesday night, as actors, directors, artists and illustrators lauded the Marvel Comics legend for creating a vast universe of fantastic, flawed, righteous and relatable superheroes. Mark Ruffalo, Aisha Tyler, Lou Ferrigno, RZA and comics creator Todd McFarlane were among... Read more →

Documentary 90 Minutes Released August 11   Do you know what it’s like to grow up and live in Ferguson Missouri as an African American? The beautifully made documentary film, Whose Streets?, will allow you to feel that life for yourself. The film does what a documentary is supposed to do. It shows the real experiences of... Read more →

  Not Rated 98 Minutes Released August 18 Marjorie Prime is a story about ghosts from a different dimension. You could classify it as a sci fi tale in genre, though it doesn’t feel like one, as it is quite emotionally intimate. It’s a psychological study of three intertwining lives set in the near future. That’s all I... Read more →

  Keith Huff’s play, “A Steady Rain,” is an absorbing variation in the “good cop/bad cop” genre. Two cops, best friends since childhood, are partners in the Chicago Police Department. (In fact, they are so entwined that neither appears to have any other friends.) Denny (R.J. DeBard), the “bad cop,” is an explosive,... Read more →

  Some say that when Elon Musk drops people on Mars, they will find a Starbucks coffee house on one corner and an Italian pizza restaurant on the other. At least that’s at least how Santa Monica has developed. There are at least 50 places to buy pizza in Santa Monica. So it’s not practical for me to try them all, because by the... Read more →

When I travel, I love riding on public transportation—buses, trains, trams and ferries— because in Europe, the UK and Scandinavia, these services are so efficient (as they are in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, BC). So I was delighted when the Expo Line came into town and I jumped at the chance to participate in the Big Blue Bus/Metro... Read more →

  Rated R 97 Minutes Released August 11   Ingrid Goes West could well be called “Ingrid Goes South.” “Ingrid” is a colossal mess and this film is the story of that mess. This is not an artistically top of the line movie. However it is a relevant statement and exploration of the communications backbone of people... Read more →

  As producer Gary Grossman explains it, the mission of the Skylight Theatre Company is to present only world premieres. No revivals, no imports from London or New York, no old rehashes of plays from the 1930s. Just brand new plays to be introduced to Los Angeles and the world for the very first time. Sometimes it works. Sometimes... Read more →

  Rated R 115 Minutes Released July 28 I prefer not to read anything about a film before I see it. I want to experience on my own terms without anyone else’s opinion. Not so Atomic Blonde. I wish that I had some knowledge about it before I experienced it – and I mean “experienced” here, in every sense of the word. You... Read more →

  Santa Monica locals Eric Luoma and Ryan Clifford will be participating in the 38th annual Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) in Massachusetts to raise money for cancer research on August 5 and 6. The PMC is the largest fundraiser of its type in the country. This year's goal is to raise $48 million dollars for the Dana-Farber Institute. A... Read more →