“The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” Directed by Tommy Lee Jones Sony Pictures Classics When Mike and Lou Ann Norton move into their new trailer home, the window looks out onto a dusty road and a sign that reads, “Liberty means freedom from high interest rates.” It sounds stupid, like a crooked salesman’s way of conniving some sorry sucker, but the idea resonates throughout the film “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.” Freedom in this film ““ written by Guillermo Arriaga (“21 Grams,” “Amores Perros”) and the first directed by Tommy Lee Jones ““ is about many things: the freedom of an outlaw, the freedom of the dead, the freedom of moving away, the freedom of having an affair. Read more...

Slowly, streams of blood-red dye begin to appear in a river, representing the bloodshed of World War II. The redness then transforms into long, flowing pieces of beautiful, red kimono cloth. Read more...

New Year’s Eve has always been one of the biggest party nights of the year. And in case you didn’t know, there are better ways to celebrate it than camping out in front of the TV set watching a taping of Dick Clark counting down the time until it’s 2006. Read more...

Of the 18, mostly Chinese, artists whose work is being featured this week in a Kerckhoff Art Gallery exhibit titled “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance,” only one currently resides in China. Read more...

This week, instead of my usual ramblings on things that get on my nerves, you get something different. The dB Magazine editors and everyone in the music section submitted their top ten albums of the year lists, and an overall top ten was created using some crazy formula involving a lot of numbers that I could never hope to understand. Read more...

For their annual December concert, the UCLA choral groups are ditching their usual program of formal, classical pieces for a more accessible and festive one. On Dec. Read more...

Jimi Hendrix jammed with the in-house bands. Janis Joplin downed her last bottle of Southern Comfort there before she died. It’s where The Doors had their monumental beginning. Read more...