LA Film Fest: Swear-A-Long Scarface

It was a warm summer night in Los Angeles with stars glinting overhead as the Ford Amphitheatre became a beautiful setting for Outdoor Screenings (part of the many events of the LA Film Festival). This open space was an oddly perfect place for a screening of Swear-A-Long Scarface... The film - uncensored, uncut - was seen by fans and newbies alike. Not for the faint of ears, it is known as having a record of 226 mentions of...an unmentionable word on this blog.

Scarface - the 1983 version, anyway - follows the rise and fall of Tony Montana (Al Pacino), a Cuban immigrant with a criminal background, who has a distinctive scar on the left side of his face. The classic imperfect character, the movie plays out almost like a Greek tragedy dealing with criminal gangs and narcotics. Montana isn't all bad; he isn't all great. Part of him could be you, even though you might not want to be him.

The event was more than the chance to show - ahem - your open-mindness regarding the freedom of word choice. It was a chance for fans to recite famous lines, and reminsce with famous scenes...all while enjoying a space open to dinner beneath the stars - perhaps a peanut butter sandwich packed before heading out or a glass of white wine after a day at work.

The screening was graced by the presence of co-star Steven Bauer (who portrays Montana's sidekick Manny Ribera) and featured sponsorship by Metro Mix and 103.1 Indie.

Wednesday night features the fourth Ford Amphitheatre Screening - the documentary American Teen (June 25, 8 pm).

-Charity Tran, ExperienceLA.com Web Coordinator

Check out ExperienceLA.com's LA Film Festival picks in our LA Film Fest 2008 Newsletter!

Being a Star Nerd

The first and only time I checked out the Griffith Observatory's remodeled planetarium, I sadly fell asleep. It's definitely not because the show is boring by any means. My body is just wired to pass out the moment the lights go down while I'm reclined in my seat listening to the soothing voice of the narrator with his glowing ball of light. I honestly wanted to stay awake and learn about the stars, but found myself waking up to the cosmic explosion halfway through - mouth gaping open and all...

The Observatory, itself, is beautiful. And while parking up at the Observatory is now available again, I didn't mind taking the Galactic Express (free shuttle ride) and pretending to be a kid on a field trip. "Are we there yet??"

To compensate for my narcoleptic tendencies, I checked out Glendale Community College's Planetarium show last Friday. GCC's Planetarium is an all digital full dome theater with power reclinable seats. While the show isn't as fancy as Griffith's, I definitely learned a lot (and stayed fully awake this time around)!

-Sarah Koo, ExperienceLA Arts/Cultural Marketing Assistant

KT Tunstall at Avalon

I love small venues. They're intimate, you get a good view, and it brings you back to the heart of music.

Teitur opened for KT Tunstall at Avalon on Tuesday. An awkward guy... but he totally grows on you, and soon enough, his awkwardness makes him all the more endearing. His music, on the other hand, is anything but awkward. With lyrics like "She stole, my grandmother's watch, a treasure to touch, to keep time to herself" accompanying his quiet but steady melodies, I was pretty sold. He closed with his song "One and Only"... and that's been playing on repeat on my computer ever since.

Then came along KT Tunstall, full on personality with her sparkling sequin minidress rockin' on her guitar... she makes me want to be a rockstar with a glitter guitar!

She was great live... hilarious with her random comments and facts, fully comfortable interacting with the audience, and easily shifting around any technical difficulties. It wasn't simply some concert with a clear division between artist and audience. It reminded me of the gigs at a small event... where it's just as much about the audience and venue as it is about the artist.

Highlight of the night: KT Tunstall layering sounds/voices with her looping pedal, only to pick up on our screams for the rest of the song.

Random fact of the night: Many trees get randomly planted because squirrels bury seeds and forget where they placed them. "Squirrels are like the eco-friendly warriors of the world!" - KT Tunstall

-Sarah Koo, ExperienceLA Arts/Cultural Marketing Assistant

Public Displays of Affection... on the Metro!

Actually, I never see that much PDA on the Metro. Hooray!! On the other hand, I do see plenty of people picking away at their noses, making me want to inch away from any metal bar in sight and hone my ability to freely balance in a moving subway car, two inch heels and all (can I call that my special talent?).

There IS, however, an event called Public Displays of Affection, a concert and exhibit brought to you by Global Inheritance, in an effort to "show public transportation in Los Angeles a little love". For a city where a majority of its residents don't even realize a subway exists, I'm all for a little Metro lovin'.

The event features Ladytron, Great Northern, and special guest DJ Taina, as well as TRASHed: Art of Recyling Exhibit. Your ticket, of course, is an incoming subway or bus ticket. Takes place this Thursday, September 27th at Hollywood & Highland, 7:00pm.

-Sarah Koo, ExperienceLA Arts/Culture Marketing Assistant

Rooney and Ozma at the Roxy on Sunset

One of LA's most famous venues, the Roxy on Sunset, is featuring Rooney on Monday nights in April! The show is hosted by hilarious Andy Dick (not for tender ears!) and features different opening acts each night. Last night's show proved to be one of the best evenings I've ever had - in addition to hanging out with some of my awesome friends, I saw two of my favorite bands: Rooney and Ozma.

The evening started out with delicious cheeseburgers at nearby Rainbow Bar and Grill where my friends Frank, Jay, Esteban, Elaine, Matt, and I met up with our friend Sarah and her friend Andrew (we had a big group!)

After dinner we had a short walk to the Roxy where we were surprised to see Mischa Barton (of OC fame) with her friends (which I suppose isn't too surprising given that Rooney played on the OC and the Roxy is a famous venue). She politely asked us to not take any pictures of her and her crowd while they were inside.

Then we were thoroughly entertained by Ozma, Ben Lee, and Rooney with Andy Dick providing transitions in song. I can't describe these transitions because this is a public friendly blog. Needless to say they were pretty amusing. Ozma was great and I even heard my favorite song - their cover of Tetris music. Rooney provided a mix of new songs for their upcoming album release, some old favorites, and then surprisingly two cover songs - the Beach Boys' California Girls (muchly appreciated by this California girl) and one by the Beatles.

Prior to last night, I had previously seen Ozma at the Knitting Factory when they had gotten back together, but I had never had the opportunity to see Rooney perform live (and I've loved the band since they first formed) so it was a particularly awesome experience. My friends would be quick to note my bias, however, since they know that I'm apt to call talented and good-looking lead singer Robert Schwartzman my "future husband" (jokingly, of course...).

-Charity Tran, ExperienceLA Web Coordinator

Universal City Walk and 300 at the IMAX

Sunday evening was dinner and a movie at Universal CityWalk.

Not just any movie: 300.

Not just any showing of 300.

300 on the IMAX.

I headed out with my roommates, Kimanh and Serena, and our friend Adam to catch a bite at one of the many restaurant offerings of Universal CityWalk. We settled on a restaurant 3 out of the 4 of us had never tried:Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. It's one of those restaurants that takes a theme and runs with it (yes, there's a bad Forrest Gump pun there). We lived up to the restaurant's shrimp theme by ordering from its assorted shrimp entrees.

After dinner, we headed out to a luckily short wait in the winding line outside of the AMC Theatre. We had been nicely told by the parking attendent that the show was already sold out. Luckily with some foresight and set back (we originally looked at the 7:00pm showing which was already sold out), we utilized the powers of the internet and bought tickets online beforehand. Our friends Jeff and Pat met up with us for the movie portion of the evening.

The IMAX experience definitely lived up to the hype - nothing like capturing large battle scenes, beautiful people, and intricate CGI scenary on a massive screen. My opinion might be a bit bias, as former epee fencer (and I use the term "fencer" very, very loosely), I'm a huge fan of sword battles...which this definitely had plenty of.

Having not seen 300 on the usual movie screen, I would imagine that it's pretty impressive still, but the IMAX experience was definitely worth it. And its preview got me hyped for Spiderman 3 on the IMAX (FX for Venom and Sandman on IMAX, anyone?)...even if reading flashing title slides on a screen that massive was a bit disorienting...

-Charity Tran, ExperienceLA Web Coordinator

LA Marathon: A Los Angeles Experience

As I sit here in the wake of the 22nd City of Los Angeles Marathon stretching out my very sore muscles, I am dominated by a feeling that overwhelmed me the most during the marathon itself: it's all worth it.

In addition to the euphoria of accomplishment - and aside from the sheer havoc reeked on the human body - by finishing a 26.2 mile race, I learned that the City of Los Angeles Marathon is a true Los Angeles experience.

As a car-less Angelino and frequent Metro rider, I find myself experiencing Los Angeles all the time. Whether by bus or subway/light rail that leads to my wanderings on foot, Metro has taken me through much of LA's diverse landscape. In fact, it even took me to the marathon, which started off of the Universal City Red Line Station.

But for all my ExperienceLA adventures, I learned the other day that there's nothing quite like experiencing LA through the City of Los Angeles marathon.

I was fortunate enough to run in the event's first point-to-point route - fortunate because this meant the race stretched its terrain into more areas of LA, creating a fuller understanding of the city's mixture of history, culture, and people.

While I'm used to wandering through specific and nearby LA destinations, I don't believe I've ever seen so much of Los Angeles in one fell-26.2-mile-swoop: from the start at Universal City uphill and down towards Hollywood's Vine and Highland streets to the homes that border Beverly Hills at Rossmore onto Olympic and toward Koreatown then into the Leimart Park/Crenshaw area to USC and toward Downtown where the route runs through the Fashion District, Historic Core, Jewelry District, Little Tokyo, and the Financial District. All along the way there are shifts in historical architecture, changing landscapes from residential to metropolitan, and different languages on passing storefronts.

But the marathon is more than just these destinations and the changing sights of Los Angeles' bevy of art and culture. What keeps the runners going and the walkers walking is the true spirit of LA: the people - the people you run with, the volunteers handing out water and Gatorade, the friends and families and strangers that cheer on the participants, the performance artists performing their hearts out, the oranges, bananas, and extra water from volunteers on their own volition. And it's the people that you come home to when crossing that finish line (or hobbling toward it as my own memory recollects).

And in this, my first Los Angeles Marathon experience, I found that the world unexpectedly came full circle for me: the volunteer who cut my timing chip from my shoe was an old friend who I hadn't seen in over 7 years.

According to my chip, it took me 7 hours, 7 minutes, and 45 seconds to cross the finish line. According to my current physical state, it has - and will - take more than that for me to recover. But in the end, it is an experience that will last me a lifetime.

-Charity Tran, ExperienceLA Web Coordinator

LA Cultural Week/end: Classical Music, 80's Clubbing, Mash-ups, and Late-Night Dining

I had a jam-packed week and weekend of evening events - from eclectic music events to a variety of late night dining to Hollywood clubbing options - it's been quite the whirlwind. It reminds me why I love living in - and experiencing - LA. There always something to do.

Tuesday: At the Viper Room in Hollywood, I went out with my friends Matt, Elaine, and Frank to see one of my favorite bands play - Hello Stranger (formerly Vagenius). Frank managed to snag us a pair of drumsticks for souvenirs! Prior to the show, we ate at the Red Rock Bar & Eatery and after the show we went shopping randomly at a shop near the Viper Room.

Thursday: My friend Bill invited me to join him and our friends Jay, Nick, and Kevin for dinner and a LA Phil event in downtown. We had a delicious meal at the Taipan restaurant in the Wells Fargo Tower. After dinner we headed off to nearby Walt Disney Concert Hall with a classical concert by the LA Philharmonic featuring Sir Neville Marriner conducting Mozart & Mendelssohn and violin soloist Martin Chalifour.

Friday: I had fun with 80's clubbing in Hollywood at the Ruby (which hosts Clockwork Orange on Friday nights among other great clubbing events!) with friends Jay, Jon, Jessie, Diana, and Jen. We mostly stayed in the main room of the Ruby which played 80's pop/rock, but we did spend time in its two other rooms: one which hosted hip-hop/trance/modern pop and the other which held some indie rock. The night out was followed by late night dining at one of my favorite 24-hour eateries in LA: Canter's on Fairfax.

Saturday: The day was spent at the Westminster Dog Park in Venice with Jay and his pet pug Ezri. The monthly pug meet-up was occuring on that day and we spent a couple of hours watching pugs of all shapes, ages, and sizes run around the small dog area. To our amusement, Ezri even found herself a boyfriend named Monty. We followed the dog park adventure in Venice with roaming around the Beverly Center (having lunch at CPK, shopping at H&M).

Later in the evening, Matt and Elaine invited me to a mash-up club called Bootie LA at the Echo night club every 1st Saturday of the month. I had never been to a mash up club before and I had a fabulous time listening to all the great mash-up mixes. My favorite mash-up (which I did get to hear) is Jay-Z's 99 problems vs. Nena's 99 Red Balloons. For those going "what's a mash up?" Here's the Bootie LA definition in brief: Also known as "bastard pop," a bootleg is a song that's "mashed-up." Usually, this means the vocal track of one song is mixed over the instrumentation of another.

After dancing at Bootie LA, we went to the 4100 Bar in the Silver Lake area, which is a lounge and bar with a great ambiance, long couch cushions, and an Asian-influenced interior design. We followed 4100 Bar with some late night eating at nearby Brite Spot Diner which features late-night eating in a cozy, casual diner style restaurant.

Sunday: After such a whirlwind few days, Sunday was thankfully a little bit quiet, but still filled with LA culture and outings. On Sunday morning I attended services at the historic First Congregational Church of Los Angeles. The church is home to the the world's largest church pipe organ and is the oldest Protestant church of continuous operation in the city of Los Angeles. Founded in 1867, the current gothic cathedral on 6th/Commonwealth was built in 1932 and modeled after the great cathedrals of Europe.

The evening was spent with dinner at Mel's Drive-in West Hollywood with Nick, Sarah, and Bill. I love the Mel's Drive-in diners (there's also a Mel's Drive-in Hollywood near Highland) for its classic diner feel and food.

Perhaps, needless to say, I close this entry with: whew!

-Charity Tran, ExperienceLA Web Coordinator