The Culture Files Blog - Los Angeles magazine

Writers on the Storm

Posted on 5/23/2013 8:37:00 AM by Anthony Miller

Teenage wild child-turned-writing teacher Judy Huddleston releases her second memoir about her time with Jim Morrison. It's the latest entry in a genre written by critics, paramours, and bandmates. Read More

Springtime for Mel Brooks: American Masters Makes A Noise

Posted on 5/20/2013 1:42:00 PM by Anthony Miller

American Masters digs into the life of comedian, filmmaker and consummate shtickmeister Mel Brooks. Read More

Roberto Bolaño: Beyond the Myth

Posted on 5/17/2013 1:01:00 PM by Anthony Miller

Last night at ALOUD, you could see at least one small sign of a revolution as nearly everyone was paging through a little red book—not Mao’s but Roberto Bolaño’s. Read More

The Hidden Henry Fonda

Posted on 5/16/2013 5:56:00 PM by Anthony Miller

Today is Henry Fonda’s 108th birthday. In "The Man Who Saw A Ghost: The Life and Work of Henry Fonda," published last October, author Devin McKinney chronicles the death-haunted world of an iconic actor whose most famous screen roles as protectors, presidents, and patriarchs mask a far more complex figure. Read More

How to Celebrate Pynchon in Public Day in L.A.

Posted on 5/8/2013 11:25:00 AM by Anthony Miller

Happy tidings on Pynchon in Public Day, a holiday that book nerds celebrate by publicly reading the works of Thomas Pynchon. Read More

A Field Guide to History's Weirdest Weapons

Posted on 5/2/2013 11:15:00 AM by Anthony Miller

Need to know the difference between an arquebus and a blunderbuss, a kwan dao and a falx, an onager and a trebuchet? Of course you do. Read More

R.I.P. Roger Ebert: A Remembrance

Posted on 4/4/2013 4:36:00 PM by Anthony Miller

His tastes were broad and deep, thoughtful and genuine, bridging high and low without a hint of posturing. Read More

Philip Roth: Unmasked -- Not Really

Posted on 3/29/2013 11:05:00 AM by Anthony Miller

Airing tonight on PBS, "Philip Roth: Unmasked" offers a closer look at Roth and his world of agita and rage, of libido and ego run amok, but the portrait feels far from definitive. Read More

Big Bang Theory: Sheldon's Top 5 Moments

Posted on 3/13/2013 8:27:00 AM by Anthony Miller

Portrayed by with great comic aplomb by Jim Parsons, Sheldon Cooper is brilliant, demanding, supercilious, persnickety, and impossible not to watch. Cats, behavioral training, and more. Bazinga! Read More

TED Wrap-Up: South Central's Rogue Horticulturist Wows the Crowd

Posted on 2/28/2013 10:05:00 AM by Anthony Miller

The high-powered and free-ranging global conference on Technology, Entertainment and Design with its 18-minute orations of irrepressible fervor and unbridled imagination is celebrating its 27th year, the last year before it relocates from Long Beach to Vancouver. Read More