“Lipstick Traces” Through Oct. 20 UCLA Little Theater (310) 825-2101 1.5 Paws Remember how parents always reminisce about the “good ol’ days” when candy was a quarter and life was simpler, and basically all the kids could do was sit there, aching for the speech to be over? Read more...

OK let’s just get things straight. Something seriously screwy is going on here. I haven’t seen “The Fast and the Furious.” I haven’t seen “XXX.” I will not see “Knock-around Guys.” But Vin Diesel is kicking ass around the box office. Read more...

By naming themselves Super Furry Animals it would seem a band is trying to cultivate a cuddly, friendly image. The Furry Animals quickly dispelled that notion Monday night at the Palace. Read more...

German composer and director Heiner Goebbels is something of a mad scientist of theater. His new production, which comes to the Freud Playhouse tomorrow, is a dreamy, visionary piece that incorporates the writings of Gertrude Stein, Japanese folk music and Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds.” When asked about the tone of “Hashirigaki,” he has a simple response. Read more...

Entering the mind of another human may seem impossibly sci-fi. But the UCLA Hammer Museum and its three new exhibits make the process fun and easy. Read more...

Jurassic 5 “Power in Numbers” Interscope Records After introducing itself to mainstream audiences with its 2000 LP debut “Quality Control,” underground hip-hop sextet Jurassic 5 returns with “Power in Numbers,” a sophomore effort that lacks the power and excitement exuding from its predecessor. Read more...

Despite the beginning-of-the-year bustle, the play is still the thing. At least it is for the UCLA Shakespeare Reading and Performance Group. In existence since 1993, the group is a motley crew of Bruins varying in age, race, discipline and association with the university, but with one thing in common: the love of theater. Read more...