Movies Till Dawn: Some Kind of Love

* 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.

True Love” (1989, Kino Lorber) With a title like “True Love,” Nancy Savoca’s comedy-drama should be about all the little moments – the swirling emotions of to-be-marrieds Annabella Sciorra and Ron Eldard, the lunacy and love of their very Italian parents, the traditions, both sensible and otherwise – that form the building blocks of a wedding. Instead, this insightful indie looks at the reasons that two people shouldn’t come together in matrimony, and why their relationship still heads in that direction, despite all the red flags. “True Love” also doesn’t truck in tragedy: the humor and pathos aren’t mined from the couple’s downward trajectory, but rather from choices that are made based on family, tradition, experience, and sometimes, just how things are. There is love in “True Love,” but it’s complicated, and as such, rings a lot truer than a sunny rom-com or a gloomy “anatomy of a break-up” drama. Kino’s Blu-ray includes commentary by Savoca and co-writer/co-producer Richard Guay (also Savoca’s husband) and interviews with members of the production team, who recall the challenges and joys of working on a budget-minded indie in the 1980s.

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Enjoy Luna Luna Before it’s too Late! Closes May 12th!!!

Luna Luna. Photo by Elise Thompson

In the summer of 1987, artist and curator André Heller invited over thirty celebrated artists to help him create Luna Luna, a fantastical fairground in Hamburg, Germany. Salvador Dalí, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, David Hockney and Sonia Delaunay, plus many others created surreal and artistic rides, and attractions.

Be amazed and delighted by Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Ferris wheel, covered with doodles and drawings, some fun, some political. Keith Haring’s Industrially fabricated tarps and merry-gp-round, David Hockney’s round Enchanted Tree, Roy Lichtenstein’s Luna Luna Pavilion, and Kenny Scharf’s Painted chair swing ride.

Instead of become a touring attraction, the rides were sealed into shipping containers where they languished for 37 years in Texas.

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Celebrate Cinco de Mayo at Topanga Social’s Margarita Garden!

One of food hall Topanga Social’s most beloved spots – the Margarita Garden, featuring both a lush outdoor garden area and a chic indoor space – is hosting a Cinco de Mayo fiesta from 3-6 p.m. on 5/05. Here’s what’s in store: 

  • Tinga tacos from Cilantro Lime
  • Margarita specials and the launch of the new Passionita Margarita (made with Tres Generaciones Plata tequila, passion fruit & more) from Margarita Garden
  • Michelada specials courtesy of I Love Micheladas
  • Thirst-quenching cerveza specials from Rock & Reilly’s
  • Live music
  • Exciting surprises

While you’re at Topanga Social, check out the newest location of Jinya Ramen Bar. The beautiful space has a full bar and is offering their beloved mini tacos – filled with spicy tuna, salmon poke, or Impossible “meat” – for just $2 each on Cinco de Mayo, plus every Tuesday in May.

Topanga Social is located at Westfield Topanga at 6600 Topanga Canyon Blvd. Salut!

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Cocktail Recipes to Make Your Cinco de Mayo Merry

Image courtesy of Cantera Tequila.

Cinco de Mayo is a couple of days away. If you plan to celebrate at home this year, why not liven up your cocktail-making repertoire? No matter how much you love a classic margarita, it’s a good time to try some new agave-based cocktail recipes. See below for some inspiration.

Cantera Negra Cafe is a smooth, silky coffee-flavored liquor made with 100% agave tequila, while the Dulce Noche riffs on the classic espresso martini. The inclusion of sweetened condensed milk makes for a flavor reminiscent of dulce de leche. Simply combine 1 part Cantera Negra Cafe with 2 parts espresso and .25 parts sweetened condensed milk in an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake and pour into a coupe or martini glass, then garnish with powdered cinnamon.

Liquid Lunch, a creation from Emyla Tequila, merges peach slices, basil, and lime juice with tequila for a bright, refreshing sipper. In a cocktail shaker, muddle slices from two peaches with four basil leaves and 1 oz. lime juice. Add 2 oz. Emyla Tequila and 1 oz. agave (or one bar spoon of brown sugar), shake, and strain into a rocks glass over ice. 

One Carat is a refreshingly different take on agave-based cocktails from Maestro Dobel Tequila. In a shaker, pour 1 1/2 oz. Maestro Dobel Diamante Cristalino Tequila, ½ oz. Ancho Reyes liquor, 1 oz. carrot juice, ½ oz. lemon juice, and ½ oz. cinnamon syrup. Shake and serve in a glass over ice with a basil leaf garnish.

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Eno Plays LA? Almost – His AI Assisted Documentary Screens At The Alex

To the best of my knowledge, Brian Eno has appeared in person in LA just a couple of times; at the Roxy Music debut American tour when it hit the Whisky in 1972, and for a lecture he gave at a university around 1990. He doesn’t often play live, so it’s not as if he’s singled us out not to appear here. But on Saturday, the Alex Theatre will present “Eno”, a fairly unique documentary proposition directed by Gary Hustwit. This project has taken all the material in Eno’s extensive archive, hundreds of hours of unseen footage, along with new interviews, and created a situation where a single two hour viewing might be stitched together from any of those components by AI, on the fly, resulting in a completely different presentation every time it is shown.

Leave it to Eno, one of modern music’s great fearless experimenters, to twist the idea of a documentary being some kind of final statement, or attempt to present the subject in a certain light. And at the exact moment that creative types are cursing AI to the sky, he’s using it to do something that sounds genuinely to be of human interest. His expansive career, from the shocking blast that was Roxy to his terrific rock albums as a solo artist, to the creation of “functional music” such as his Ambient series to his production work with other trailblazing artists, seems to resist a single two hour narrative. No matter what was in the two hours, it could never be complete and never be enough. This is a way to acknowledge the futility of the attempt, yet present something anyway, and allow that maybe by the next screening, it will have improved.

Hustwit will appear at the screening to answer questions, and Dublab DJs will spin in the courtyard until the wee hours.

Eno screens at the Alex Theatre on Saturday, May 4 at 8pm. Tickets available here. 

 

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Taste of the Nation Brings LA’s Best Chefs to Culver City to Benefit No Kid Hungry

Legumes a la Grecque from Church & State Bistro Taste of the Nation 2014 (Elise Thompson)

Taste of the Nation for No Kid Hungry, one of our favorite benefits, is returning Saturday, May 4th, to Media Park in Culver City. This strolling event features unlimited delicious bites, sweets and cocktails crafted by more than 40 of Los Angeles’s top chefs and mixologists. Beautiful trees shade the many comfortable hangout spaces in the bucolic park. As you wander the rolling grassy knolls, enjoy live music, interactive games, raffles, and live cooking demonstrations.

Event Chairs are Brooke Williamson, television personality and executive chef/owner of Playa Provisions, and fellow Top Chef alumni Mei Lin, executive chef/owner of daybird, known for their exciting use of Szechuan peppercorns that make your mouth tingle and go numb. Chef Mei Lin will also present a cooking demo, as will LA Beat fave, Bricia Lopez of Guelaguetza, who will teach you the secrets of mole.

Other chefs making a personal appearance include Suzanne Goin, chef/owner of AOC, Stephanie Izard, chef/owner of the hotspot of the moment, Girl & the Goat, the charming Jazz Singsanong, chef/owner, of Jitlada, serving the spiciest Thai food in LA, Candace Nelson, Founder of cupcake gamechanger Sprinkles, Shirley Chung, chef/owner of Ms Chi Cafe, known for their inventive dumplings and mochi donuts, Greg Dulan, chef/owner, of  Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen, which dominates all of the top ten lists, and Michael Reed, chef/owner of the awesome Poppy & Rose.

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watt’s picture of the week – sunday, april 28, 2024

laurie steelink w/her art at her cornelius projects in our pedro town yesterday!

photo by mike watt

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mike watt’s hoot page

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Where to Find $1 Tacos Today!

Image via Guac Daddy on Facebook.

Guac Daddy’s official opening was yesterday, and to honor the occasion, the Los Feliz taqueria is celebrating with $1 tacos through 11 p.m. tonight!

The team behind Guac Daddy includes the owner of Tu Madre. The new eatery features mesquite-grilled meats tucked into tacos, burritos, vampiros, or quesadillas. House-made aguas frescas, asada fries, and mini churros with dipping sauce round out the menu.

Located in one of Los Feliz’s most bustling corners, across from Fred 62 and bumping up next to the Los Feliz 3 Theatre, you can find Guac Daddy at 1824 N. Vermont Avenue.

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Meet the Maker: Alice Jun Brings Her Artisanal Rice Wine to Echo Park Tonight

Tonight’s your chance to try some artisanal rice wine – with the Broooklyn-based maker – when Alice Jun of Hana Makgeolli visits OTOTO and Tsubuki!

Located next door to each other in Echo Park, OTOTO and Tsubuki are renowned Japanese eateries. OTOTO was called “L.A.’s best sake bar” by “The Los Angeles Times,” while “Food & Wine” declared that “Tsubaki pours the most interesting sake in L.A.”

Winemaker Alice Jun will make her way back and forth between between both spots tonight. She’ll offer flights and single pours at OTOTO. Tsubaki will offer a seasonal special pairing offered by Jun’s creations. 

OTOTO is walk-in only. Reservations can be made at Tsubaki via TOCK.

Tsubaki is located at 1356 Allison Avenue. OTOTO is at 1360 Allison Avenue. 

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Movies Till Dawn: All Creatures Great and Small

* 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 Great Alligator* (1979, Severin Films)  Displeased with American real estate developer Mel Ferrer’s plan to disrupt his kingdom – a sprawling kingdom located in a faux Africa (played by Sri Lanka) – with a luxury hotel, the river god Kroona takes the form of an enormous alligator and eats his way through Ferrer’s staff and guests, with only photographer Claudio Cassinelli and anthropologist Barbara Bach to oppose him. As Brett Gallman’s review for Oh, The Horror rightly notes, this Italian-made creature feature takes its cues from not only “Jaws” but also the then-popular Eurocult trend of Forbidden Jungle Adventure/Horror, as evidenced by the indigenous tribe that worships Kroona, a mix-and-match crew of Black, Asian, and white performers in dusky makeup and primitive gear that seem pulled from a Depression Era Tarzan film. Though racial sensitivity may not be director Sergio Martino’s strong suit, he does know how to deliver entertaining exploitation, and lets his sizable but stiff Kroona model chew its way through the cast with abandon; he also ups the ante by also pitting the survivors against the local tribe, who are (understandably) ticked off by the outsiders’ decision to kill off their god. With Richard Johnson in Crazed Old Coot mode and little Silvia Collatina from “House By the Cemetery” as a filter-free grade-schooler; Severin’s release offers the first-ever release of “Great Alligator” in 4K UHD (a standard Blu-ray is also included) with a host of extras, several of which are ported over from a previous Code Red release. These include interviews with Martino, Collatina, production designer Antontello Geleng, and DP Giancarlo Ferrando, all of whom recall the film with varying degrees of amusement and affection. Production sketches and a video essay by Lee Gambin round out the set.

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