Mr. Langtry selected a machete from the shelf and looked back at me. “Call me Denis,” he said. “Please, I’m asking you. You don’t have to call me Dad, just Denis.” His eyes turned back to examine the blade he held between us, and his never-trimmed eyebrows flared like two cats tensing to fight. Read more...

“Darwin’s Nightmare” Directed by Hubert Sauper International Film Circuit The cobbler’s children go barefoot in Tanzania. The seemingly harmless Nile perch fish is the largest source of income for the towns surrounding Lake Victoria. Read more...

“Conviction” NBC While shows like “Law & Order” and “NYPD Blue” dominated airwaves for two decades, the last five years have seen an explosion of procedural dramas. Read more...

As I’ve mentioned in my previous columns, graduating and going out into the real world means having to trade in frat parties and keggers for cocktail parties and art shows and abandon the too-familiar Westwood bars for ones that have a slightly more mature crowd. Read more...

Dear Mom, Was reading a T.C. Boyle short in The New Yorker last Thursday at the library and started crying. It hit hard, harder than Joyce’s “Araby” even. Read more...

With just a week and a half remaining on the calendar until Oscar night, it’s time to start thinking about whom you’re going to pick in your local pool. Read more...

“Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” It is the refrain of children restlessly sitting in the cramped backseats of station wagons during family trips. Read more...