Category Archives: Movies & TV

SHARK-O-METER: Which pop culture shark has the biggest bite?

The 40th anniversary of sea thriller “Jaws” is upon us. The Steven Spielberg-directed classic starring Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss left its mark on pop culture for decades to come, from tongue-in-cheek comedy sketches to the most menacing movie music this side of the “Imperial March.” We’ve ranked some of the most notable sharks in pop culture from their most menacing to the most humorous with our Shark-O-Meter.

The stuff nightmares are made of
“Jaws”: Released in 1975, the suspense-ridden classic scared beachgoers and reminded us all that we’re gonna need a bigger boat.
Shark Week: Sharks are majestic creatures – and they can kill you. Discovery Channel’s popular annual shark programming reminds us of this and starts July 5.

Terrifying
“Open Water”: This 2003 psychological thriller has a scuba-diving couple left behind and battling those biters of the deep.
“Sharknado”: Ian Ziering of “Beverly Hills, 90210” fame battles a tornado of sharks in Los Angeles. You decide what’s more frightening – the concept or the acting.

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COACHELLA 2014: AXS TV announces festival broadcast lineup

Beck performs on the Coachella Stage during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio on Sunday, April 13, 2014. (Rodrigo Pena/Freelance Photographer)

Beck performs on the Coachella Stage during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio on Sunday, April 13, 2014. (Rodrigo Pena/Freelance Photographer)

Not up for paying the cash or taking the drive to the desert for the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival this weekend?

While viewers could celebrate Couch-ella via YouTube on weekend one, if you get cable channel AXS TV, you can soak up 20 hours of performances and coverage of weekend two on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

While AXS TV has filmed at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in the past (and will again April 25-27), this is the first time a true TV crew has been allowed to film Coachella.

There will also be interviews with the artists conducted by KCRW’s Jason Bentley.

Here’s who you can see:

Friday, April 18
6 p.m. to 1 a.m.: Performances by Haim, Neko Case, Ellie Goulding, Broken Bells, Chromeo, Grouplove, Bastille, Bryan Ferry, Kate Nash, ZZ Ward, and AFI

Saturday, April 19
11 a.m.- 6 p.m.: Re-broadcast of Friday’s performances.
6 p.m.- 1 a.m.: Performances by Lorde, The Pixies, Queens of the Stone Age, Cage the Elephant, CHVRCHES, The Head and the Heart, Capital Cities, Future Islands, MGMT, Fatboy Slim, and Foster the People

Sunday, April 20
11 a.m.- 6 p.m.: Re-broadcast of Saturday’s performances.
6 p.m.-midnight: Performances by Beck, Arcade Fire, Fishbone, Frank Turner, Big Gigantic, Daughter and Calvin Harris. There will also be performances filmed Saturday night from Pet Shop Boys, Skrillex and Nas.

Monday, April 21
11a.m.-5 p.m.: Re-broadcast of Sunday’s coverage

RIVERSIDE: The Fox snags ‘The Sing-Off’ tour

A tour featuring groups from NBC's reality show "The Sing-Off" will come to Riverside in March 2014. (NBC/Contributed Image)

A tour featuring groups from NBC’s reality show “The Sing-Off” will come to Riverside in March 2014. (NBC/Contributed Image)

If you love a cappella and reality television competitions, the Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside has a show for you.

The winning a cappella group from NBC’s “The Sing-Off” will lead the show’s first ever live tour and it hits the Fox on March 28, 2014.

The tour will also include other finalists from the competition, with individual sets from each act with hits from the show, group numbers, sing-offs and more.

Tickets go on sale Friday, Dec. 20 at 10 a.m. at www.singofftour.com, but prices have not yet been announced.

The Fox has also added two other shows to the 2014 calendar.

Mexican TV host and comedian Adal Ramones will perform on Saturday, March 8. Those tickets are on sale now and are priced at $21-$61, before fees at www.livenation.com.

Also, multimedia Pink Floyd tribute act The Pink Floyd Experience will bring its flying pig to the Fox on Sunday, March 16.  Those tickets are also on sale and are $21 before fees.

The phone number for the box office is 951-779-9800 and it is located at the theater at 3801 Mission Inn Ave. in Riverside. You can get more information online at www.foxriversidelive.com.

The box office is open Monday through Friday from noon to 6 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is also open on all show days until show time.

These are among the first shows entertainment company Live Nation has announced since taking over the operations at the city of Riverside-owned venue Dec. 1.

Other shows the live entertainment producer announced for the Fox in 2014 include comedians Bill Engvall and Wayne Brady.

RIVERSIDE: Metallica’s Lars Ulrich stops by the AMC at Tyler

Lars Ulrich in "Metallica: Through the Never." (PICTUREHOUSE)

Lars Ulrich in “Metallica: Through the Never.” (PICTUREHOUSE)

I hope Lars Ulrich found a bathroom.

When the Metallica drummer appeared Friday, Sept. 27 before an almost-packed theater to introduce “Metallica Through the Never” at the AMC Tyler 16 in Riverside, he explained that he was in traffic for two and a half hours and hadn’t even had a chance to go to the restroom yet.

“It’s Friday afternoon and Metallica is right here in the I.E.,” Ulrich said to a cheering crowd.


Ulrich, singer/guitarist James Hetfield, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo were all around the country promoting the film, which was released in IMAX 3D today and will have a wide release next week.

The movie, which mixes footage of Metallica’s live show with a narrative involving a roadie, first came up 15 years ago.

“The people at IMAX, when they were doing nature films and mountian climbing films, they actually came to us and asked us if we would do a short Metallica film,” Ulrich told the crowd. “This was about ’97, ’98. At that time it was too complicated; the cameras were still analog and it was too practically weird.”

A few years ago the band decided to return to the idea as the technology was digital.

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich addresses the audience before a screening of "Metallica: Through the Never" in Riverside on Sept. 27, 2013. (Vanessa Franko/Staff Photo)

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich addresses the audience before a screening of “Metallica: Through the Never” in Riverside on Sept. 27, 2013. (Vanessa Franko/Staff Photo)

“There’s a giant stage, an aircraft carrier of a stage,” he said.

Ulrich said there are about eight minutes worth of credits at the end of the film.

“We put a lot of work into this and we’re happy that you all came out here to share it with us,” Ulrich said.

When the movie started, the audience cheered as each of the members appeared on screen. I had to laugh when they showed Trujillo practicing in a back room and the ceiling crumble and the room shake because I’m still convinced the band shook the ceiling tiles loose up at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario when they played there back in 2008.

Also, everyone give Tim Guy some love for being my cameraman while I was trying to take pictures in a reeeallly dark theater.