8. "Punch-Drunk Love" Once again P. T. Anderson proves himself the most exciting filmmaker alive today. Here, the auteur of “Magnolia” and “Boogie Nights” plays into and defies generic conventions without making it feel forced. Read more...

“Metroid Prime” Retro Studios Nintendo GameCube If you are a fan of the old “Metroid” games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES and Gameboy platforms, but think that the switch to a first-person shooter can only ruin the classic gameplay, consider yourself mistaken and go buy “Metroid Prime” for GameCube right now. Read more...

While my roommates were re-creating last Sunday’s thrilling playoff game between the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers on “Madden 2003,” it dawned on me that Monday Night Football had already wrapped up its season. Read more...

The Japanese word “kyodo” has two translations: “family” and “loud children.” UCLA Kyodo Taiko, a Japanese drumming group which will perform Jan. 9 at 6 p.m. Read more...

Blevin Blectum describes her music as “stuff that I want to hear that I haven’t heard before.” Anyone encountering her music for the first time can rest assured of one thing: her sparse, dark though strangely warm compositions are unlike most things anyone has heard before. Read more...

Theater professor Mel Shapiro believes that everyone in academia ought to practice what they preach. Luckily for him, he is currently able to put his money where his mouth is. Read more...

Robert Rosen, dean of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television, doesn’t just sit, aloof, in his office doing administrative work. Last year, he helped create the student-run television program “UCLA: Next,” a magazine style television series focusing on UCLA. Read more...