The 2012 Village Voice Film Critics' Poll

Squeaking by with an Obama-size victory margin, Paul Thomas Anderson's thrillingly strange The Master tops this year's Village Voice Film Critics' Poll, ahead of Kathryn Bigelow's electrifying hunt-for-bin Laden procedural Zero Dark Thirty. Although set some 60 years apart, both films offered portraits of a traumatized America trying to reassert itself in the aftermath of …

The Jersey Invasion of 'Not Fade Away'

Rock & roll proves the coming-of-age crucible in Not Fade Away, Sopranos creator David Chase's semiautobiographical feature debut of shaggy hair, shagadelic beauties, and the joy and sorrow wrought from chasing—and failing to achieve—one's dreams. Chase's tale of showbiz striving has, in its basic form, been told before: a suburban kid rebelling against his stuck-in-their-ways …

Notes, Quotes and Observations from Last Night's “Mad Meat Men” Bird Finale at Picnics in Costa Mesa

With apologies to the dearly missed former Orange County Register sports columnist Randy Youngman, notes, quotes, and observations from last night's game fowl extravaganza at Picnics Kitchen in Costa Mesa hosted by the Mad Meat Men. *Fucking Dave, I swear: fucking mensch! Unlike me, he's not a shameless self-promoter, so didn't promote this event AT …

Rodney Alcala, Serial Killer Convicted in Orange County, Pleads Guilty to 2 Murders in New York

Rodney Alcala vehemently denied killing Robin Samsoe as he defended himself in the trial that preceded his 2010 conviction for slaying the Huntington Beach 12-year-old and four young Los Angeles County women in the 1970s. But the serial killer who has been sentenced to death three times in California pleaded guilty in New York today …

Dennis Rodman, Who Wormed His Way Out of Paying Child Support, Must Cough Up $500k

A Superior Court commissioner in Orange has found former NBA freak Dennis Rodman in contempt for more than his hair, tackle-boxed face and bro-dacious hangers-on, orderering “The Worm” to cough up $500,000 because he's been worming his way out of paying child support. This is nothing new for Rodman, who performed more than 100 hours …

Pot Poll: Most Americans Want Marijuana To Be Legal

Fifty-eight percent of Americans believe that marijuana should be legal under federal law, and 50 percent of Americans think it actually will be within the next ten years, according to a poll commissioned by the Marijuana Policy Project.  The poll, which was carried out by the Raleigh, North Carolina-based firm Public Policy Polling, sampled the …

'Life of Pi': Tiger, Tiger, Pixels Bright

A stacked-deck theological inquiry filtered through a Titanic-by-way-of–Slumdog Millionaire narrative, Life of Pi manages occasional spiritual wonder through its 3-D visuals but otherwise sinks like a stone. It's no shock that Ang Lee brings to his high-seas adventure graceful and refined aesthetics devoid of any unique signature or pressing emotion, as the director has long …