BY SHREYA AIYAR A&E contributor [email protected] Many big-screen heroes are white and male, but most of the audience that watches their stories are not. In the 87th Academy Awards, the 20 actor and actress nominees were white and all the screenwriting and directing nominees were male. Read more...
Photo: (Annie Chan/Daily Bruin)
Wearing leopard slippers, a tiger-patterned cardigan and a vibrant orange afro, Panini Jones laid between two miniature palm trees. Tears flowed down his face as Jones announced his profound aspiration to be as selfless as the tree in the popular children’s book “The Giving Tree.” Jones is just one of the many comedically improvised characters set to appear on the new Web series “Beyond the Bruin.” Created by three UCLA students and premiering on YouTube on Monday, the show will combine serious interviews with comedic acts and musical performances. Read more...
Photo: Second-year political science student Dean Rowe (left), third-year global studies student Ben Kurzrock (middle) and fourth-year political science student Joshua Thomas (right) created the Web series “Beyond the Bruin,” which will debut Monday on YouTube. (Courtesy of Dean Rowe)
Behind the glitz and glamour of the Academy Awards goes meticulous preparation, vital in ensuring the ceremony runs smoothly. Part of the evening’s flow is attributed to the Oscars’ music ensemble, with recorded live versions of movie soundtracks playing as background music during the nominations. Read more...
Photo: UCLA clarinet professor Gary Gray is a part of the ensemble that will provide music at the 87th annual Academy Awards this Sunday. (Eva Sidhu/Daily Bruin)
Deborah Landis’ decision to move to UCLA from New York City stemmed from her dream to be part of Hollywood. A self-proclaimed costume designer at birth, Landis said she has always understood that the key difference between costume design and fashion design is the element of make-believe and fantasy – to breathe life into characters. Read more...
Photo: (Paramount Pictures)
When the Producers Guild of America asked him to write a story with a car in it, Alvaro Ron thought of his grandfather. Ron’s grandfather drove actors and actresses in the ’50s, such as Ava Gardner and Charlton Heston, while they filmed in Spain. Read more...
Photo: UCLA alumnus Alvaro Ron created the seven-minute short film, “The Red Thunder,” for the Producers Guild of America’s Make Your Mark competition. Ron’s film was a finalist for the short film contest. (Courtesy of Alvaro Ron)
UCLA music lecturer Gloria Cheng realized she was in the midst of a legendary gathering of musicians. John Williams, Don Davis, Michael Giacchino, Randy Newman and Bruce Broughton huddled around a piano with a slew of sheet music – compositions they had written not for film, but for Cheng herself to perform. Read more...
Photo: UCLA music lecturer Gloria Cheng assembled a group of acclaimed film composers, including Randy Newman and Michael Giacchino, to score individual piano pieces for her to perform. The album, titled “Montage,” will be released Tuesday. (Jose Ubeda/Daily Bruin staff)
The last time a film as promisingly ludicrous as “Kingsman: The Secret Service” came out, it was also by the hand of director Matthew Vaughn. “Kick-Ass” was a gleefully unprofessional way to handle cinematic adaptations of comic books, and it was all the better for it. Read more...
Photo: (20th Century Fox)
