A poignant week for LAist as they lose their trusted and amazing editor Tony Pierce to the LA Times, but what a blast his last week was. He shared his 25 Favorite CDs of 2007 and wrote a great review of just a good movie, No Country For Old Men. At UCLA, thousands of students celebrated the end of their quarter by running around campus in their undies (lots of photos in a two-part......

La Vie En Rose (directed by Olivier Dahan and Sebastien Caudron) At the end of her life Edith Piaf sang that she didn't regret anything and after you see her story played out in La Vie En Rose, you realize that's really saying something. An icon of French music whose voice instantly evokes the good life in sun-dappled Parisian street cafes, Piaf came from extreme poverty and with her immense talent became a huge international......

As a cabbie, I hear a lot of things. I hear people confess their deepest, darkest secrets. I occasionally overhear people talking about insider stock trading. And when there is an event that catches the public’s imagination or enters the city’s collective consciousness, I hear about it. What I’m saying is that I’ve got my thumb squarely on the pulse of this city. Well, I’ve at least got it on the pulse of the people......

After all the comments on yesterday's post about books set in NYC, we got to thinking, has anyone bothered to come up with a list of all the movies set in the city? The answer, of course, is yes-- at Wikipedia, of course. What an amazing site-- it's like having a genie who's only job is to distract us with useless NYC trivia! They've probably missed a couple of movies here and there, but......

Last year Bob Dylan chronicled his own life. Tonight the first feature length biography on him, No Direction Home, will air on PBS. The Martin Scorsese directed film is split in to two parts, as follows... Part I: Bob Dylan's life and music from 1961-66 (airing tonight @ 9pm) Part II: Conclusion. Bob Dylan's life and music (airing tomorrow night @ 9pm) We've been hearing great things from those who have already caught some......

Everyone's favorite polemical cultural critic Susan Sontag has teamed up again with the Japan Society to present 10 of her favorite Japanese films through December 17, "Critic's Choice: Susan Sontag on Japanese Film, Part II." Like the previous popular series in 2003, Sontag wants to celebrate the accomplishments of this national cinema with selections which represent their emphasis on complex characters and powerful storytelling. Selling out many of the screenings of the first 8 Japanese......

Acrobats, clowns, fire-breathers, magicians, stilt-walkers and a ringmaster are just a few of the characters you'll encounter on Circus Day at Coney Island this Saturday, August 8. Circus Day includes tons of live music, magic shows, acrobatic feats, circus art, face painting... you name it! There will be circus performances by The Winn’s Thrills of the Universe, The Russian American Kid’s Circus, and Circus AMOK; musical performances by Vic Thrill, World/Inferno Friendship Society, The Main......

Jason Kottke, Designer...

First thoughts on the Matrix Reloaded
Gothamist thought that this was a great movie- but understands why you hate it. It's more challenging, and probably worse than the first one, but it's about as good as Kung Fu philosophy gets....

I used to use Hotbot a lot, pre-Google. Now, I think it is boring. But more debate: Poynter Online - HotBot vs. Google, Part II......