Bending and twisting, shaking and shouting, 38-year-old actor and comedian John Leguizamo’s mother is spanking him with her chancleta (a flip-flop sandal). With a backdrop of hundreds of twinkling lights, his jerking body moves to a danceable beat. Read more...

10. Alfonso Cuaron “Y Tu Mama Tambien” is a great teenage road movie, and Cuaron, who is nominated for writing the film with his brother Carlos, also did a great job directing it. Read more...

During a span of seven years in the 1960s and 1970s, actor Cheng Pei-pei made twenty-some films that redefined the Chinese martial arts film, starting with King Hu’s 1966 film “Come Drink With Me.” “I did a lot of movies but no one recognizes them (as much as) “˜Come Drink With Me,'” Cheng said. Read more...

Over the past few years some Latina actresses, such as Jennifer Lopez and Salma Hayek, have risen to prominence in Hollywood. Soon the UCLA film program may lay claim to having developed a Latina leading lady, Tonantzin Esparza. Read more...

Myron Murakami takes the idol worship of “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson to a whole new level. “He kind of looks like a Buddha,” Murakami said. Read more...

When people think of Broadway musicals, they often think of the glitz and glory of tinsel-clad dancers waving glittery top hats and making a singular sensation with every little step they take. Read more...

A phone conversation with the man called Scanner is by default an awkward exchange, especially when aware that his stage name is an allusion to the knob-twiddler’s infamous phone-scanning antics. Read more...