Produced by Emrhys Cooper and conceived by accomplished playwright, Guillermo Reyes, the play explores a wide range of subjects that include the paparazzi, erectile dysfunction, cults and the son of Lee Harvey Oswald. Woven together with an imagining of Cuba’s Elian Gonzales, the play touts a strong apocalyptic message, pointing out that technology is no substitute for human communication.

Besides the plentiful laughter, audience interaction and political satire, the play also touches on the death of the playwright’s mother from cancer.  It is a sobering moment in the show but one from which we are quickly diverted.

The scenes are mostly brisk and fast paced, with effective visuals and a wide range of costumes and props that make for a fun hour and fifteen minutes.

Expertly directed by Paul Storiale, “This Way to Your Ritual Lobotomy” is an impressive and well executed effort. Felix Pare is outstanding.

The show runs Fridays and Saturdays and is well worth a look. Tickets are $20.

We give it: **** (four stars)

The Avery Schreiber Theatre is located at 11050 Magnolia Blvd. North Hollywood CA 91601

Phone:818-766-9100

Website: http://www.averyschreibertheatre.com

RadarOnline.com has obtained a tape of actor Mel Gibson ranting and shouting at his ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva.

In the tape Mel is heard blasting Grigorieva for the way she is dressed, telling her ,”you look like a f—— pig in heat, and if you get raped by a pack of n——, it will be your fault.”

Gibson also tells Grigorieva  he will burn down her home.

His latest outburst came during a series of explosive arguments with Grigorieva, mother of his infant daughter Lucia. They have been battling in court, with documents under seal, for the past several weeks.

Previously, Gibson shocked the world with his anti-Semetic comments when busted for a DUI in Malibu.  He eventually made an attempt at an appology via a Diane Sawyer interview, though many felt it was not enough, and Gibson never fully articulated an “I’m sorry.”

Even earlier this year, when the anti-Semetic issue was gingerly brought up, Gibson was prickly and defensive. During an interview with KTLA’s Sam Rubin, who suggested that some people in Hollywood might never want to work with him again after his “remarks,” a wild-eyed Gibson leaned in and said to the Jewish reporter: “I gather you have a dog in this fight?”

Days before, he had stormed out of an interview with the Los Angeles Times’ Geoff Boucher. (He resumed the interview later.)

Now, the new racist outburst has taken the Oscar winner to an even deeper low.

You can hear his racist, misogynistic rant here.

or visit www.RadarOnline.com

Throughout my seven months since September 26, 2009, the date of my arrest at Zurich Airport, where I had landed with a view to receiving a lifetime award for my work from the representative of the Swiss Minister of Culture, I have refrained from making any public statements and have requested my lawyers to confine their comments to a bare minimum. I wanted the legal authorities of Switzerland and the United States, as well as my lawyers, to do their work without any polemics on my part.

I have decided to break my silence in order to address myself directly to you without any intermediaries and in my own words.

I have had my share of dramas and joys, as we all have, and I am not going to try to ask you to pity my lot in life. I ask only to be treated fairly like anyone else.

It is true: 33 years ago I pleaded guilty, and I served time at the prison for common law crimes at Chino, not in a VIP prison. That period was to have covered the totality of my sentence. By the time I left prison, the judge had changed his mind and claimed that the time served at Chino did not fulfill the entire sentence, and it is this reversal that justified my leaving the United States.

This affair was roused from its slumbers of over three decades by a documentary film-maker who gathered evidence from persons involved at the time. I took no part in that project, either directly or indirectly. The resulting documentary not only highlighted the fact that I left the United States because I had been treated unjustly; it also drew the ire of the Los Angeles authorities, who felt that they had been attacked and decided to request my extradition from Switzerland, a country I have been visiting regularly for over 30 years without let or hindrance.

I can now remain silent no longer!

I can remain silent no longer because the American authorities have just decided, in defiance of all the arguments and depositions submitted by third parties, not to agree to sentence me in absentia even though the same Court of Appeal recommended the contrary.

I can remain silent no longer because the California court has dismissed the victim’s numerous requests that proceedings against me be dropped, once and for all, to spare her from further harassment every time this affair is raised once more.

I can remain silent no longer because there has just been a new development of immense significance. On February 26 last, Roger Gunson, the deputy district attorney in charge of the case in 1977, now retired, testified under oath before Judge Mary Lou Villar in the presence of David Walgren, the present deputy district attorney in charge of the case, who was at liberty to contradict and question him, that on September 16, 1977, Judge Rittenband stated to all the parties concerned that my term of imprisonment in Chino constituted the totality of the sentence I would have to serve.

I can remain silent no longer because the request for my extradition addressed to the Swiss authorities is founded on a lie. In the same statement, retired deputy district attorney Roger Gunson added that it was false to claim, as the present district attorney’s office does in their request for my extradition, that the time I spent in Chino was for the purpose of a diagnostic study.

The said request asserts that I fled in order to escape sentencing by the U.S. judicial authorities, but under the plea-bargaining process I had acknowledged the facts and returned to the United States in order to serve my sentence. All that remained was for the court to confirm this agreement, but the judge decided to repudiate it in order to gain himself some publicity at my expense.

I can remain silent no longer because for over 30 years my lawyers have never ceased to insist that I was betrayed by the judge, that the judge perjured himself, and that I served my sentence. Today it is the deputy district attorney who handled the case in the 1970s, a man of irreproachable reputation, who has confirmed all my statements under oath, and this has shed a whole new light on the matter.

I can remain silent no longer because the same causes are now producing the same effects. The new District Attorney, who is handling this case and has requested my extradition, is himself campaigning for election and needs media publicity!

I can no longer remain silent because the United States continues to demand my extradition more to serve me on a platter to the media of the world than to pronounce a judgment concerning which an agreement was reached 33 years ago.

I can remain silent no longer because I have been placed under house arrest in Gstaad and bailed in very large sum of money which I have managed to raise only by mortgaging the apartment that has been my home for over 30 years, and because I am far from my family and unable to work.

Such are the facts I wished to put before you in the hope that Switzerland will recognize that there are no grounds for extradition, and that I shall be able to find peace, be reunited with my family, and live in freedom in my native land.

Roman Polanski

With his fellow Aussie side-kick, Carly Einfeld, Brandon talks about something he could certainly hold a PHD in. Television. This kid knows his stuff. From the sound of him, he could boost the national Nielson ratings all on his own.

Compelling and lighthearted, TV Talk Tonight reviews shows such as Survivor, Lost, Celebrity Apprentice, Glee, Brothers & Sisters and Big Bang Theory.  In the current show Brandon and Einfeld bust Jack Bauer for his real time sexual escapade on 24. “Come on Jack Bauer. We know you can do better that eight minutes”.

Along with the news and  gossip, the show has had guests such as Ariana Savalas, daughter of award-winning, actor, Telly Salavas, (Kojak) and Rob Cesternino, a former contestant from the show Survivor.

“A” list talent has not yet discovered this program.  Maybe they should.

Colorful, expressive and certainly lovable, Mr. Brandon dishes the dirt and shows his vast TV knowledge on each episode.

Getting flack for saying “Oh, my God” one time too many, Brandon had to eat a hot pepper on the latest show as punishment. Sweating with tears streaming down his face, he finished the show like a trooper.

Filmed in someone’s apartment, the kitchy set compliments the fun filled ten minute program.

A catchy musical theme by Josh Brandon, a cool animated opening by Stephen Leonard and ably directed by Christopher James Burke, TV Talk Tonight is a fun and fast paced internet show that should not be missed.

See it here: www.tvtalktonight.com

Directed by Matthew Vaughn for a mere reported $30 million, “Kick Ass” is both funny and serious, charming and deadly, bloody and a sexy coming-of-age film all rolled into one.

Nick Cage is back to form as ex cop turned crusader, Big Daddy, and Chloe Moretz as his daughter and fellow crime fighter, Hit-Girl, both turn in stellar performances.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Red Mist and Mark Strong as his ruthless father are fine additions to a talented cast of mostly unknowns.

“Kick Ass” is the best new entry in the cinema sweepstakes so far this year. Don’t miss it.

We give it: ****
Four stars.

A review:

Quintin Tarantino’s latest film is a gory, delicious and highly stylized revenge fantasy that is in many ways reminiscent of the action-packed, episodic Saturday afternoon matinee films of long ago.

Inglourious Basterds begins in German-occupied France, where Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz).

Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine

Shosanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema.

Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution. Known to Nazis as “The Basterds,” Raine’s squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich.

Mélanie Laurent as Shosanna Dreyfus

Everything comes to a boil under a cinema marquee, where Shosanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own.

Tarantino takes his time to unfold several layers of the story and at times certain scenes play out like an Agatha Christie play, with scenes that build and build as pieces of the puzzle are revealed in a explosion of gun fire.

A number of actors shine brightly. Most notably Christof Waltz as the Nazi Colonel known to his men as “The Jew Hunter.” Waltz in an Academy baiting performance is at the center of the story with his multi-lingual bad guy character who always gets him man (or woman).

Diane Kruger, oozing old-school glamor as German movie star Bridget von Hammersmark, and Daniel Bruhl as Nazi war hero Fredrick Zoller who’s about to become a star by playing himself in a propaganda film about his exploits both give excellent performances.

Perhaps the most human and sympathetic performance is by French actress, Mélanie Laurent whose beauty and vulnerability makes us squirm as she falls into “The Jew Hunter’s” trap.

Brad Pitt is fun to watch as the fearless good-ole-boy Lieutenant Aldo Raine who lets nothing stand in the way of his mission or his personal convictions.  Great cameos from Mike Myers as a stuffy old British General and Australian actor, Rod Taylor as Winston Churchill.

Cinematography by Robert Richardson is rich and beautiful. Production design by David Wasco is detailed and impressive. Sally Menke’s editing is sharp.

Inglourious Basterds is violent, colorful and thought provoking. Tarantino’s best film since Pulp Fiction, it is certainly the most fun to be had in the cinema this summer so far.

We give it: ****

Starring Joseph Gordon Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, the story discects an unpredictable love affair told from the point of view of Levitt’s character, Tom.  Believing in the notion that love is something to cherish and hold on to, his witty, sexy girl, Summer, warns him early in the relationship that she is not looking for anything serious.

Jumping back and forth in time the film chronicles Tom’s 500 day roller coaster ride with Summer, bouncing from his utmost joy to deeply rooted desperation.

Levitt is solid as Tom, delivering a funny, honest performance that makes you want to be his friend. Deschanel is perfect as Summer. Though she’s pretty and smart she is also cynical and distant, making you feel Tom’s pain as you see his heart beat with joy or break because of her indifference.

500 Days of Summer is delightful in it’s hip and stylish approach, it’s emo soundtrack and it’s blend of fantasy and in-your-face reality as we ride along with Tom on his 500 day romance. It’s a little gem of a film that is not to be missed.

500 Days of Summer opens July 24th.

PF

The Heavy Metal band, Anvil, shattered eardrums at the Fairfax Cinema on Monday night with a live performance that followed a sold out showing of their documentary, “Anvil! The Story of Anvil,” directed by Sacha Gervasi.

The story focuses on two aging Canadian rockers, Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner, who have been working their asses off to achieve major stardom for over thirty years. The film is both funny and touching. It is a compelling portrait of a lifelong friendship that started when these guys were in their early teens.

We first meet Anvil at a 1984 a stadium show in Japan where they share the bill with acts such as Bon Jovi, the Scorpions and Whitesnake — all of whom went on to became major rock stars stars.

Interviews with musicians such as Slash, (formerly with Guns and Roses) reveals that Anvil was the group everyone thought could change the face of heavy metal. Sadly we find them stuck in tedious day jobs in snowy Toronto, occasionally playing dumpy bars, yet still hoping and struggling to become rock legends some twenty-five years later.

The film follows Anvil through a disastrous European tour, examines the tensions that occasionally permeates the band and the heartbreak their relentless pursuit of success causes their families.

This band dreams big and never gives up. Gervasi manages to make us feel their struggle. We root for their attempt at a comeback album and ultimately follow them back to Japan where in a final emotional scene, they once again perform to a huge crowd who not only know all their songs but also shower them with love and affection.

At the Fairfax Cinema on Monday night, the director introduced the movie and made no secret of the fact that he too loves these guys. He was their former roadie back in the day, and even lost his virginity on tour with Anvil as a sixteen year old.

The capacity audience was with Gervasi from the opening frame. When the movie ended, the band members raced down the isles, picked up their instruments and wowed the crowd with a short but excellent and set. Many people sang along with the lyrics while others stood on seats to get a better view of Anvil. Camera’s flashed everywhere.

Afterward, Reiner and Kudrow signed CD’s and Anvil merchandise in the lobby, posing and chatting with old and new fans alike.

For a few hours on Monday night Anvil’s dream was a reality. We can only hope the dream continues and that this fun and well made documentary helps propel them to the heights that should have been theirs starting back in the 80’s. Not only for their sheer tenacity, but also for the fact that they are a great metal band, Anvil deserve to win.

Check out the movie’s website here: http://www.anvilthemovie.com

by

Peter Hughes

One of the freshest, most energized bands to come out of Australia in years are the Hot Kicks. We caught them at the Dakota Lounge in Santa Monica where they managed to get a rather laid back crowd on their feet by the end of their short thirty five minute set.

The Hot Kicks are Pete Kicks on guitar, Kim Kicks on drums and Mick Kicks on bass and lead vocals. For a trio, the Hot Kicks have a full and vibrant sound that uses a mix of alternative, classic rock and punk to great effect. Pete plays a mean guitar, Mick is solid on bass and Kim is one of the most visual and rapid-fire drummers on the rock scene today. Her rainbow colored hair flies everywhere as she pounds the skins, occasionally sneering or making crazy faces that had me smiling.

The Hot Kicks perform rock music with strong hooks and powerful melodies. Two memorable songs, “The Money” and “Pretty Little Face” from their EP, “Kid in a Candy Store” are still stuck in my brain. Seriously. Both tracks received well deserved international radio and critical kudos in 2008.

While they do mainly original material, their cover of the White Stripes tune, “Fell in Love with a Girl” at the Dakota was also powerful.

Visually, they always manage to stimulate. Pete and Mick strut the stage with confidence and a knowing smile. They bounce off each other with a playfulness that is both classic rock and indicative of two dudes who simply love what they do. Their stage experience helped the Hot Kicks whip even a small room like the The Dakota into a minor frenzy. This band knows how to work a crowd.  The Hot Kicks are loud, naughty, with a drive and a determination that is hard to ignore. A couple of hits could easily propel the band to major stardom.

Word has it that they are currently recording their debut album. Maybe this will break them out in America and beyond. Their talent certainly warrants US and international recognition.

Hot Kicks next play in Ventura at The Good Bar on Saturday the 30th. They are an act well worth catching.

Check out their website: www.theHotKicks.com

The evening opened with a surprise live solo performance by 80 something Richard Sherman who played a medley of the songwriting duo’s best known songs.

The story of  siblings who wrote some of Hollywood’s most memorable tunes such as “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Feed the Birds” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” as well as number one hits like “You’re Sixteen” for Ringo Starr, is told in  this new compelling documentary from Disney, the studio that was Richard and Robert Sherman’s artistic home for many years.

The feature-length documentary, conceived, produced and directed by Gregory Sherman and Jeffrey Sherman, two of the songwriters’ sons, offers a rare glimpse of two song writing greats at work.

It also explores a deep and longstanding rift that has kept the brothers personally estranged throughout much of their professional career.

The filmmakers, cousins who grew up within blocks of each other in Beverly Hills, never really knew each other.

“There was a ‘keep out’ sign posted over that part of our lives,” stated Gregg, an Emmy Award-winning producer and feature film writer who is the son of Richard Sherman. “My family would see his family at a Sherman Brothers event, but we would never be seated at the same table or near them in the theater. We would acknowledge that they existed, but we had no relationship with them.”

As adults, Gregg and Jeff decided to break that tradition after they connected in 2002 at the London premiere of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the stage adaptation of one of their fathers’ most successful films. They decided that by working together, they could pay tribute to their dads.

The result is both informative and emotional.

The documentary includes all-new interviews with Julie Andrews, Roy E. Disney, Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., John Landis, Angela Lansbury, John Lasseter, Kenny Loggins, Hayley Mills, Randy Newman, Debbie Reynolds, Ben Stiller, Dick Van Dyke and John Williams, as well as a rare archival interview with Annette Funicello. It also explores Richard and Robert Sherman’s friendship and love for their mentor, Walt Disney.

The picture gets a limited release May 22 in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Palm Desert, CA.

It is well worth seeing.