Month: November 2019

Tired aphorisms on free will and fate plunge writer-director Oliver Mann’s chaotic crime-drama “Such a Funny Life” into a humdrum groove of situations and reactions from which it never emancipates itself. Three distinct time periods in an aspiring comedian’s troubled existence come up short in their task of characterizing him as a multidimensional survivor of…

Writer-director Josh Aronson’s moving documentary “To Be of Service” takes an intimate, respectful look at the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on U.S. military veterans and the ways in which pairing up with specially trained service dogs dramatically improve their emotional and physical well-being. Aronson (2000’s Oscar-nominated doc “Sound and Fury”) memorably immerses us in…

“The Tower,” an animated feature by Norwegian writer-director Mats Grorud, is both a political protest and a lament for a lost way of life, reminiscent of “Barefoot Gen,” Keiji Nakazawa’s first-person account of the bombing of Hiroshima. Wardi, a bright 11-year-old Palestinian girl, lives with her extended family in a refugee camp in Lebanon. She…

‘Primal’ It’s usually best to approach any B-movie with lowered expectations; but it’s hard not to get excited about the premise for “Primal,” in which the ever-offbeat Nicolas Cage plays Frank Walsh, an exotic animal collector who’s escorting his latest catch on a transoceanic voyage when a rogue U.S. Marine escapes federal custody and frees…

Hong Kong. LAX-it. The news this week is that travel is fun except when it’s not. My name is Catharine Hamm, and I’m the travel editor for the Los Angeles Times. And it’s all fun and games until someone has to wait two hours for a car they hailed with an app. But be of…

As my friend Takayo and I drove the 208 miles north to Paso Robles, my imagination went into overdrive in anticipation of the 58,000 fiber-optic flowers that create Bruce Munro’s “Field of Light at Sensorio.” I had been a fan of Munro’s work since 2016, when I saw his “Field of Light” at the Phoenix…

In the stock market, it’s all about trade now. Stocks were jumping early Thursday after China said both sides in the U.S.-China trade war had agreed to roll back tariffs if their talks progress. But an afternoon report citing fierce opposition within the White House to the agreement undercut the enthusiasm, and the majority of…

SAN DIEGO —  SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. on Thursday named Sergio “Serge” Rivera, an executive in the hotel and vacation ownership industry, as its new chief executive. He will be the theme park company’s fourth CEO in the last five years. Rivera, 57, who had been a top executive at Starwood Hotels & Resorts and most recently…

Atop a Las Vegas skyscraper, an extravagant penthouse that reflects the city’s over-the-top glitz and glamour just traded hands for $12.475 million. The three-bedroom condo was owned by former New Mexico state Sen. Phil Maloof, whose family developed the building, as well as the Palms Casino Resort next door. He first floated it for sale…

Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers has put his home in the Hollywood Hills back in play at $11.25 million, down from about $12 million earlier this year. Set on a cul-de-sac in the Bird Streets neighborhood, the Hamptons-inspired traditional house has a fireplace in the living room, a skylight-topped dining room and pocketing…