A Sounds Eclectic Evening, KCRW’s third annual benefit concert, was held Saturday at the Universal Amphitheatre. The show was a shining example of how the Santa Monica-based National Public Radio affiliate, once undeniably at the forefront of cutting-edge music from around the world, has settled into a complacent role as a purveyor of conventional music and uninspired emerging artists. Read more...

The curtains are once again set to open on the annual Francis Ford Coppola One-Act Marathon at UCLA. Named after UCLA alum and world-renowned film director Francis Ford Coppola, the pioneering program, now in its sixth successful year, is unique in that it seeks to pair UCLA graduate film directors with their playwriting counterparts from the theater department. Read more...

It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say that Francis Ford Coppola is arguably the most famous, if not the most successful alumnus ever to have walked through the hallowed halls of UCLA’s prestigious School of Theater, Film and Television. Read more...

“Girl With a Pearl Earring” Directed by Peter Webber Lions Gate Films Based on Tracy Chevalier’s bestselling novel, “Girl With a Pearl Earring” is a stunning, seductive film adaptation of the imagined story behind Johannes Vermeer’s most famous painting. Read more...

Film&TV: “Angels in America” HBO Dec. 7 and 14, 8 p.m. HBO’s $60 million movie has arrived. The Mike Nichols-directed, Al Pacino-and-Meryl Streep-starring six-hour movie epic based on the hugely successful Tony Kushner plays will premiere on Dec. Read more...

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like Hollywood is trying to ruin my holiday season. As I consciously try to see all the Oscar-contending films before the nominations so I can complain about how wrong the Academy got it this year, Focus Features released “21 Grams” right around Thanksgiving. Read more...

Although Massoud Amir Behrani (Sir Ben Kingsley), one of the main characters in “House of Sand and Fog,” and director/screenwriter Vadim Perelman have different backgrounds, they both pursue the same thing. Read more...