Photo by BinaryLA via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr FILM LACMA hosts the Seventh Annual Young Directors Night featuring eight short films competing to win the Art of Film award. It's a very important night for these eight new filmmakers hoping to get their name out there and present their work to a creative audience. 5-10 p.m. // Bing Theater at LACMA // 5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles // (323) 857-6010 //......

"hang" | Photo by xxjetlab via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr THEATRE Members of the Towne Street Theatre are on stage tonight in a double bill. First is The 10 Minute Play Festival, which features plays ranging from comedy to satire to drama brought to you by 23 actors and 9 director. Second is PassingSOLO, a one-woman show based on their play version of Nella Larsen's 1927 novella Passing. There will be......

So, here we are. Living in the crazy post-Office/Pushing Daisies/30 Rock world that none of us wanted, and of course it's only about to get worse. With shows falling off like Bud Selig's credibility (zing!), the time to start seeking out alternatives is now. Of course we've already given you a good start, but believe me when I say those recommendations are the tip of the television iceberg. Lucky for you, I have the......

People have been asking me what's up with the Weekly lately and hell if I know. They do their thing and maybe new management has made them lose their edge, but maybe they're just getting olde. Seems to me that once upon a time if someone like Juliette Lewis was in town to play a Saturday night show at the Roxy with a decent bill like Scissors for Lefty and Suffrajett, the Weekly would......

What do you get when you mix a sponsor (AOL Spinner), a holiday (Halloween), a label (DefJux), and a DJ (Juggaknot's DJ Boo)? Of course, a free mixtape. Peep: DJ Boo - The Definitive Jux Halloween Candy Before Dinner Mixtape [DOWNLOAD] Tracklist: Aesop Rock, 'Citronella' El-P, 'Smithereens' Rob Sonic, 'Rock The Convoy' Junk Science,'Do It Easy' Hangar 18, 'West Wing' Rob Sonic, 'Dead As Disco' Junk Science, 'Hey!' Hangar 18, 'Bakin' Soda' Junk Science, 'Jerry......

Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell @ Autry National Center Bright Eyes with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Yo La Tengo, M. Ward @ Hollywood Bowl India.Arie, Ziggy Marley, Ottmar Liebert @ The Greek LA Riots, Toxic Avenger, Juiceboxxx @ Echoplex Low, Charlie Parr @ The Troubadour The Blasters, Charlie & the Valentine Killers @ Malibu Inn Zigzag Wanderers, Smash Fashion, Backbiter, Motorcycle Black Madonnas @ Mr. T's Bowl AM, Dirt Dress, Maria, The Sundelles @ The......

Although it might not be a surprise to you that Manhattan Beach has the hottest volleyball tournament, we had only heard rumors of the infamous Six Man and didn't believe the unreal hype. Manhattan Beach hadn't let us down. On Sunday we showed you a sweet photo essay documenting the AVP pro beach volleyball tourney that they held down there, which led us to find out more about the Slo Motion Wave. But what......

Anyone interested in movies is familiar with Ain't It Cool News and anyone familiar with Ain't It Cool is familiar with the Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow. The Roadshow was originally scheduled to make a stop in South Central to screen Friday next Friday, but lily-livered politicians decided to pull the permit at the last minute. Fortunately, the Roadshow decided they had to make a stop in L.A. so they've now scheduled a 10th anniversary......

Sara Bareilles - Little Voice (Epic) Velvet Revolver - Libertad (RCA) Iron and Wine - Boy With A Coin [SINGLE] (Subpop) Various Artists - Transformers: The Movie Soundtrack (Warner Bros.) 2 Many DJs - 50 Million Soulwax Fans Can't Be Wrong [LIMITED EDITION] [IMPORT] (Waxed Soul) Rilo Kiley - The Moneymaker [SINGLE] (Warner Bros.) Queensryche - Mindcrime at the Moore [LIVE] (Rhino) Face the Music - 2007 Encores! Cast Recording (Drg) Widespread Panic- Capricorn......

The White Stripes - Icky Thump (Warner Bros.) The Polyphonic Spree - The Fragile Army (TVT) Art Brut - It’s A Bit Complicated (Downtown) The Aliens - Astronomy For Dogs (Astralwerks) The Moony Suzuki - Have Mercy (Elixia) David Vandervelde - Nothin' No (Secretly Canadian) Dimitri From Paris - Cocktail Disco (BBE) Nouvelle Vague - New Wave (District 6) Bon Jovi - Lost Highway (Mercury Nashville) Van Morrison - Best Of Vol.3 (Manhattan/EMI) But......

Although they always have pretty good lineups, San Diego's Street Scene never seems to get our attention. Until now. Today they announced that The Killers, Muse, Panic! at the Disco, Social Distortion, Air, Arctic Monkeys, Too $hort, G. Love, The Editors, The Academy Is..., Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah, Gym Class Heroes, Mute Math, Honeycut, Ozomatli and others will play their two day festival down by the ocean in Del Mar, but what......

Oh when the saints, go over there... Oh when the saints go over there... Bonde do Role - With Lasers (Domino) The Afghan Whigs - Unbreakable: A Retrospective (Rhino) Disco Deutschland Disco: Disco, Funk & Philly Anthems From Germany 1975-1980 (Marina) Rjd2 - Third Hand [Instrumental] [LIMITED EDITION](XL Recordings) Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full [Bonus CD] (Hear Music) The Aggrolites - Reggae Hit L.A. (Hellcat) Elvis Presley - Elvis at the Movies [REMASTERED](RCA)......

I’ve often found some CD gems while browsing through music stores and choosing albums selected at random. Last night, after my original plans were canceled, I decided to apply that same theory to a live event and catch a couple shows at the Hotel Cafe without knowing in advance who’d be performing. At 8 p.m., John McGrew and the Sit Backs took the stage. It struck me as amazing that all five members of......

Artists: Various Albums: the Departure Lounge Grooves; The Sex, the City, the Music: Berlin Label: Petrol Records Release Date: Fall 2006 CM Murphy, former worldwide manager of INXS started the Petrol Records label in 2001 with the idea of creating and releasing “seriously good music from around the world.” His idea of creating good music is to put together themed compilations and selling them for about $10 a pop. I’m a self-declared fan of......

Andrew W.K.'s Highway Party Cruiser Tour slammed into Safari Sam's last night for Check Yo Ponytail's weekly mashup of live rock; dance-punk, retro, and new wave dance floor action; and mindbending video projection. We knew we were in for some wildness, considering the promise of a solo set and DJ'ing from wild child Andrew W.K. We were also a bit concerned, not knowing what to expect after recently hearing him on All Things Considered......

We're big fans of Bill Maher and his weekly Real Time on HBO. The hour-long show features a panel of distinguished guests discussing politics and pop matters of the day with Bill, but the highlight of each show is the "New Rules" segment, in which Maher introduces a set of hilarious new rules. (Also, highly recommended is the book, or audiobook of the same name.) The "New Rules" above are from Friday's episode --......

If you are gay or European, or considering becoming gay or European, this record may already be yours. For the heterosexual American who has never heard of Mika, however, fret not. You will not be excluded from this elite club. This album is for you, too. Perky, discoed, electro-pop ala Scissor Sisters (but less Elton John, and more Queen) awaits your every, equal opportunity, partying need. Road trip? Perfect. Getting ready to go out......

It was either 1986 or '87. LAist was living in Inglewood within walking distance of the Fabulous Forum. We were young and impressionable. We had heard of the legend of "Clapton is God", but we were also fascinated by a new guy named Robert Cray who was just breaking into the scene with a blues tune that was actually getting played on MTV - something unheard of unless your name was Stevie Ray. So......

You'd think a guy who in one breath says that he reaches "over 70 million terrestrial radio listeners in over 125 countries around the world" and has just built a new studio, wouldn't say in the next breath that he has no money left over for the help. Bro doesn't have $8 an hour to pay a struggling college kid to answer the phones and fetch a Diet Coke for JoJo? Has the man......

Our pals over at Austinist have been doing a bang-up job of Internet sleuthing, Googling, and MySpacing to confirm over 500 bands that will play SXSW even though the Austin music festival refuses to cooperate. After taking last week off because we were sure SXSW would release their master plan, we now return as there seems to be no end in sight to the band list embargo. Many indie labels and some marquee acts......

So if you don't feel like driving that hour+ to some party in the Valley, or to some party anywhere in Los Angeles, you can always turn on the TV. There's nothing like watching the 3-hour tape-delayed disco ball drop to reaffirm your existence. Tomorrow - Sunday - New Years Eve "Twilight Zone Marathon" (SciFi, ALL DAY) "Seinfeld Marathon" (TBS, ALL DAY) "Marx Brothers Marathon" (TCM, starting at 5:15 p.m.) (other marathons include "Ace......

The intensely abrasive and experimental and wild 40 Bands 80 Minutes was directed beautifully by Sean Carnage. We were lucky enough to have him hand over a Top 10 list that's creative and insightful, and dare we say a little inspiring. TOP TEN ANGELENOS THAT INSPIRE ME TO BE “BAD”! After filming L.A.'s most talented musicians for 40 BANDS 80 MINUTES!, I want to push things further with a new movie—HOW TO BE BAD:......

Tonight - Monday "Breakheart Pass" (TCM, 5:00 p.m.) Charles Bronson starts off Crime/Mystery night on TCM. This is followed by "Murder On the Orient Express", "Sherlock Holmes in Terror By Night", and "The Narrow Margin" "Monday Night Football" (ESPN, 5:30 p.m.) da Bears @ Rams "NBA Basketball" (PRIME, 7:30 p.m.) Spurs @ Clippers "How I Met Your Mother" (CBS, 8:00 p.m.) Xmas episode followed by new episodes of everything else on CBS Monday night.......

Primus, GOGOL BORDELLO @ Palladium Panic! at the Disco, Bloc Party @ Long Beach Arena Jon Lovitz @ Laugh Factory Storm Lee, Shane Mack @ Genghis Cohen Amos Lee, Mindy Smith @ El Rey Slightly Stoopid, Pepper @ Wiltern Tralala, Jim Noir, Annuals @ Spaceland Waz, Greg Johnson, Jake Coco @ The Hotel Cafe Disco Biscuits @ Roxy DJ AM @ LAX Freshwater Collins, Phillip Sace @ Viper Room The Colour @ The Troubadour......

Alice in Chains @ Wiltern - You gotta take your hat off to a band who loses their irreplaceable singer and... replaces him. So you take your hat off, steal the shoe off of some passed-out fratboy soaking in his own puke, put the shoe in the hat, and throw it at the band. Fucking Zeppelin didn't regroup after they lost their fucking drummer, wtf is this shit? If the City employees who were......

GWAR, Municipal Waste @ House of Blues Barbara Streisand @ Staples Jello Biafra @ El Rey (spoken word) The Rapture @ Henry Fonda James Blunt @ Virgin Megastore (signing) Sarah Silverman @ Largo Sierra Swan, OK Stranger, Hope Republic @ Viper Room Matt Fishbeck @ Silverlake Lounge Mr. Divisadero @ The Scene Desmond Child, Billy Steinberg, Jill Sobule @ Hotel Cafe Van Gunn, Lions in the Street @ Safari Sam's The Need, LCD, Start......

Tuesday Night "NBA Basketball" (PRIME 42, 6:00 p.m.) Clippers @ Jazz "Nova" (PBS, 8:00 p.m.) A genetic impairment causes an entire Turkish family to walk on all fours. PBS is attempting to become the Discovery Channel, or TLC or something sensational. What next, "When Anthropologists Attack"? "Dancing With the Stars" (ABC, 8:00 p.m.) This is the finals, finally - does anyone think that they'll let Emmitt Smith walk away with this thing? I'd like......

Like Vincent Gallo, LAist dates girls half our age. So the other day when one of our gfs was reading some older posts, she objected when we made fun of Panic! at the Disco, an easy target if ever there was one. Although it's very difficult to debate the musical plusses of a group like PATD with a young lady who has clearly lost her mind, at some point we, too, lost our mind......

While being asked if he was dating 16 year-old Cobra Snake pallie, Cory Kennedy, the "Buffalo 66" director known for receiving a blow job from Chloe Sevigny in "Brown Bunny", Vincent Gallo, 45, said: "With the psychotic, middle-aged Madonna out there on the loose buying up all the stolen Negro babies in Africa, I felt it my social and humanitarian duty to take in any young, beautiful and sexy orphaned Jew teens running wild......

Los Angeles real estate company Conquest Student Housing accused of changing their name to 6626 Picasso LLC in order to hide the fact that they bought a 55-unit apartment complex at UCSB, and then attempted to evict all the tenants - Daily Nexus Silverlake Music Academy has their 5th annual recital and Spin magazine discovers that the kids would love to jam with Panic! at the Disco or dead classic rock bands - Spin......