Live Mariachi Tonight at SOCALO, plus Dia de Los Muertos Dinner Specials Till Saturday

Posted on October 30, 2024 by Karin E. Baker

Image courtesy of Mariachi Tierra Mia

Celebrate Dia de Los Muertos at Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken’s Santa Monica restaurant SOCALO starting tonight!

Tonight, October 30, Mariachi Tierra Mia, one of Susan’s favorite bands, will perform live at SOCALO from 6:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.

In addition, a limited-time Dia de Los Muertos dinner menu debuts tonight. Available through Saturday, November 2, Executive Chef Raul Plascencia’s menu will feature:

  • Tepache Honey Glazed Korean Short Rib (with tortilla ash tamal, hoja santa, mexican cheeses, mole negro)
  • Confit Duck Leg (with mole rojo pipian, kabocha squash, and serrano orange marmalade)
  • Braised Sweet Potato (piloncillo cinnamon syrup, orange whipped cream, candied pepitas) 
  • Pan Dulce de Muerto with chocolate champurrado

You can find more information about SOCALO and a reservation link here.

 

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Movies Till Dawn: Last House on Dead End Street

Posted on October 27, 2024 by Paul Gaita

* indicates that this title is also available to rent, stream, or purchase on various platforms. Please note that streaming options may differ from these home video presentations in terms of visuals, supplemental features, etc.

“The Snow Woman” * (1968, Radiance Films) A master woodworker and his apprentice fall afoul of the Snow Woman (Shiho Fujimura), a beautiful but vengeful creature who kills those she encounters on snow-swept nights. She dispatches the older man but spares the apprentice, noting his innocence; he later meets and falls for a woman (also Fujimura) whose mysterious and alluring presence makes her a target of a brutal bailiff. Gorgeous and (appropriately) haunting Japanese ghost story, based on a story by author Lafcadio Hearn that was previously adapted for 1964’s “Kwaidan.” Director Tokuzo Tanaka creates eerie landscapes for the Snow Woman’s appearances, but also emphasizes the tragic side of the story; the central thesis, it seems, is that while vengeance is a quality shared by the human and spirit worlds, love and compassion are reserved solely for the former. Radiance’s all-region Blu-ray – part of its”Daiei Gothic” set, which contains three supernatural films from the venerable studio – preserves Tanaka’s otherworldly compositions and adds a featurette on Hearn and an observant discussion of the film with director Masayuki Ochiai (“Parasite Eve”).

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Korean Eatery bb.q Chicken Launches 3 New Wing Flavors

Posted on October 22, 2024 by Karin E. Baker

The Korean chicken restaurant also unveiled a limited-time value meal

Whether you’re already a fan of Korean eatery bb.q Chicken or haven’t checked it out yet, now is a great time to try out the deservedly beloved chicken wings at the chain’s numerous LA-area locations.

Three new chicken wing flavors have just been launched at bb.q’s SoCal locations. First launched in Korea, where bb.q began, all three new flavors will help ward off vampires while bringing a bolder, even more authentically Korean flavor to Angelenos.

Sweet & Salty Garlic offers a caramelized, crispy texture thanks to lashings of garlic, honey, and soy sauce, while Garlic Crunch is studded with crispy fried garlic flakes. Golden Garlic is heavily coated in bb.q’s special housemade garlic powder. All three varieties are currently being tested in Southern California.

Additionally, bb.q is currently offering a special value meal at select locations: get 4 chicken wings, fries, and a drink for $9.99.

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Studio One Forever: A Righteous Retrospective of West Hollywood’s Best and Worst Kept Secret of the most Fabulous Kind!

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Jennifer K. Hugus

Photo by Jennifer K. Hugus for The Los Angeles Beat

It was a night of rainbows, reminiscence, and reflection at the Landmark Theater Sunset in West Hollywood on the mid-October night of the Studio One Forever screening. In attendance were some of the film’s prime interviewees including, but not limited to, Bruce Vilanch, Rosalyn Kind, Lesley Ann Warren, A sprightly 94 Year Old James Gypsy Haake (most widely known for his role as Uncle Otto on Married with Children), Singer Kiki Ebsen (daughter of Buddy Ebsen), Susan Blakely, Cayman Cardiff (aka Guy Dollman of Barbenheimer) along with Film Producer and Former West Hollywood City Councilman John Duran.

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“Tim Burton’s A Nightmare Before Christmas” — 9 Original Artworks Now on View at The Hilbert Museum

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Karin E. Baker

Image courtesy of the Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University.

Tis the season… for “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Come see original concept drawings, paintings and storyboards created for the classic 1993 animated Disney film produced by Tim Burton and Denise Di Novi.

This new show, at the Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University, features nine original production sketches by famed animator Jorgen Klubien, along with oil-pastel concept drawings curated from The Hilbert Museum’s enormous collection of Disney animation and movie art. 

In addition to viewing original pieces created for Tim Burton’s stop-action animated classic, the Hilbert Museum’s other current shows include Disney Classics of the 1950s and ‘60s, featuring original art from “Peter Pan,” “Cinderella,” “Lady and the Tramp,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Mary Poppins,” “The Jungle Book,” and more; along with Art of the Airwaves: Novelty Radios from the 1930s to 1970s (more info).

The exhibit Tim Burton: The Nightmare Before Christmas continues at the Hilbert Museum through at least Jan. 2, 2025.

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Movies Till Dawn: House of the Devil

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Paul Gaita

* indicates that this title is also available to rent, stream, or purchase on various platforms. Please note that streaming options may differ from these home video presentations in terms of visuals, supplemental features, etc.

“Dr Jekyll and the Werewolf” * (1972, Mondo Macabro) Paul Naschy returns as the mournful Waldemar Daninsky,”who once again seeks a cure for his lycanthropy. The latest attempt comes courtesy of the grandson (Jack Taylor) of Dr. Jekyll, who proposes a sort of supernatural methadone in the family formula, which will turn Daninsky into Mr. Hyde to fight off (one guesses) his werewolf urges. But a jealous lab assistant (Mirta Miller) upends the process, resulting in Daninsky changing helplessly from human to Hyde to werewolf. One of the most enjoyable entries in Naschy’s long-running “Hombre Lobo” film series, “Jekyll” is an affectionate nod to Universal’s WWII-era monster meet-ups, in which plot took a backseat to as much on-screen time to the monsters as possible; a few forays into grindhouse material (Hyde abusing Shirley Corrigan) are detractions/distractions, but these are balanced by some clever and outrageous moments from writer Naschy and director Leon Klimovsky, including Naschy walking the streets of London ’71 in full Hyde makeup and Daninsky cycling through all three of his personas in an English disco. Mondo Macabro’s region-free Blu-ray presents both the original Spanish version of the film (with English subs) and a reconstruction of a more graphic cut exported to other territories; commentary by the NaschyCast crew is typically informative and entertaining,. as are a host of new and vintage interviews with the late Naschy, Taylor, and Naschy’s son, Sergio, and tributes to Taylor and Kilmovsky.

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‘Carved’ Intoxicates at Descanso Gardens

Posted on October 19, 2024 by Monique A. LeBleu

The Pumpkin Forest at Carved, Descanso Gardens, La Cañada Flintridge, California, Friday, October 5, 2024. Photo by Monique A. LeBleu.

Carved, at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada-Flintridge, comes once again to open spooky season for families and children of all ages, bringing an assortment of fun and interactive activities, art, and a mild and serene macabre.

Beginning in the magic hour of dusk, young Jedis light-saber their way through a dimly lit hay bale maze, fairy princesses twirl to Spanish guitar at the Ofrenda in the Under the Oaks Theater, and kids of all ages dance around tap lights illuminating the forests.

During this autumn season, the garden’s peacefully verdant landscape lends to the magical and haunting beauty of Carved. Unhurried paths lead through shadowy patches of charmed jack-o-lanterns and colorful folklore vignettes. Incandescent globe fire pits cast amber shadows along forest pathways. A mistiness steals out of the gloaming and the air shimmers like water as a storm threatens and a Kraken slinks through a shipwreck. A meandering bridge way, aglow with hundreds of straw lanterns, illuminates a promenade past shimmering pools and swaying corn stalk. Enchanting ghost sculptures “wander” gracefully through the moonlit roses and naked lady lilies of the Rose Garden. Continue reading →

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watt’s picture of the week – sunday, october 13, 2024

Posted on October 13, 2024 by Mike Watt

today me + my missingmen finished all the basic tracks for out upcoming “static” album at casa hanzo w/peetzo here in my pedro town… here’s a a photo I took of bof my missingmen raul morales (l) and tom watson (r) when we got doing it, yatta!

photo by mike watt

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mike watt’s hoot page

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Movies: Satan Wants You

Posted on October 12, 2024 by Editor

“Michelle Remembers” is a book published in 1980 that claims to recount a woman’s recovered memories of childhood Satanic abuse. I read the book when I was in 8th or 9th grade. Even at that age I was dubious about claims that the Virgin Mary and Michael the Archangel appeared to her while she was hanging in a cage. The part about crazy people in a cult eating babies was much more believable.

The story takes place in Victoria, Canada, and Michelle says male members of the cult cut off their ring finger to prove their allegiance to Satan. Well, I have family in Victoria and soon after I read the book my family went to Vancouver Island to visit them again. There was a man in the market with that exact finger chopped off. I looked at him wide-eyed and he gave me a scary look. I interpreted it as, “You know I’m in the Satanic cult! I may have to sacrifice you!”

It probably meant, “Goddammit, ever since that stupid book came out, people keep staring at the finger I lost in that logging accident.”

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Movies Till Dawn: House of Seven Corpses

Posted on October 12, 2024 by Paul Gaita

* indicates that this title is also available to rent, stream, or purchase on various platforms. Please note that streaming options may differ from these home video presentations in terms of visuals, supplemental features, etc.

“The Wait” * (2023, Film Movement) A foolish decision causes Victor Clavijo, a gamekeeper for wealthy landowners in a rural Spanish town, to lose his son and wife in rapid succession. But his search for answers to the tragedy – motivated largely by guilt – reveals that their deaths may have been part of a strange ritual involving the town and all those who previously held his job. What begins as a revenge thriller in modern Western dress takes a turn into supernatural horror with religious (established and folk) overtones; all sides are deftly handled by writer-director F. Javier Guiterrez, who also focuses on the rash emotions that fuel them. The striking and often nightmarish visuals are photographed expertly by Miguel Angel Mora; currently available as a VOD title on various platforms.

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