Sunday, March 22




Best of 2008

1. Portishead ““ “Third” To call this record mature would be to (falsely) imply the immaturity of Portishead’s earlier works. Nevertheless, the trip-hop staple’s first output in 11 years finds the band commendably more restrained and less glitchy, letting its tribal, minor-key ballads form a dusky playground for vocalist Beth Gibbons’ haunting flirtation with time and key. Read more...


Worldwide project comes to UCLA

In 1999, artist Tony Deifell picked up his ringing telephone and a kid's voice blurted out: "Why do you do what you do?" Finding himself unable to give a clear, concise answer to the chance interviewer, Deifell became haunted by the simple query. Years later, what began as hours of rumination eventually developed into Deifell's "Why Do You Do What You Do" worldwide community art project, which provides participants with a creative way to answer the question by combining text and image. And this year, it is coming to UCLA. Read more...


Director creates critical film based on his experiences with his father

Movies today deal with topics as fanciful as romantic vampires and as straightforward as two people who make a porno to pay the bills. Regardless of the range of the modern filmmaker, the topic of family matters remains a constant theme. When independent filmmaker and former UCLA student Randall Miller penned "Nobel Son," the story of an egomaniacal genius who belittles everyone he encounters, Miller was writing about his own father, a former UCLA professor of biochemistry. Read more...