New Thing #32: House of Dynamite

House of Dynamite is the latest film from Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty, and, most impressively, Point Break - and it follows multiple vantage points within the government after a nuclear weapon is fired from the Pacific Ocean.

EXPECT: A SLICE OF LIFE/WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MOVIE
House of Dynamite is a bare bones film that shows what happens in the various halls of the government and the military when a nuclear weapon is fired at the United States. There are no flowery speeches, no cinematic clashes of personalities, it’s just people trying to deal with a nightmare scenario.

DON’T EXPECT: ANY PERSONALITY
The film almost seems to exist in a political vacuum. Not only are parties never brought up but everyone is completely focused on the job and seem to harbor no opinions on what’s going down or no preconceived opinions. It exists in a world of “What if everyone was actually good at their job” which I’m not sure reflects the world we live in. The film is almost too matter of fact for its own good.

EXPECT: DIMINISHING RETURNS
The story is told three times from various points of view. Obviously, the initial telling of the story is the most propulsive as we’re seeing things unfold for the first time. The second version does a good job at showing some new angles. To me, the third version, which gets a bit more personal, doesn’t have the same impact - no pun intended.

DON’T EXPECT: THE FILM TO PICK A SIDE
Again, this is a matter-of-fact telling of what would happen if a nuclear missle should come our way. The film also doesn’t go into the aftermath of what happened so there’s no time for hindsight or realization of whether decisions were right or wrong.

EXPECT: A SWEDE-ISH REBECCA FERGUSON
It isn’t distracting but there were a few times where it sounded like Rebecca Ferguson’s Swedish accent popped out. Everyone has kind of non-descript American accents; perhaps as another way to keep things as neutral as possible.

In the end, this is a discussion starter of a film. It’s the kind of movie I could see being shown in high school classrooms in the future. But it’s also a movie that people will appreciate more than love. For me, it landed at #14 on my Films of the Year list. I’m sure some people will say that this serious film is “objectively” better filmmaking than The Accountant 2, Friendship, or One of Them Days but I believe that objectivity is based on the subjective take that serious films are more impressive/difficult to make than comedy or even fluff actioners. Also, should lasting impact matter? The credit score scene in One of Them Days will stay with me longer than anything from A House of Dynamite.

New Thing. #31: Big Bear (play)

I stopped hy The Elysian Theater last night to check out Big Bear, a new play about a group of college friends on their annual trip; it’s the final morning of the trip and things fall apart as truths are unveiled and the friends start to realize that maybe their collegiate friendships have run their course.
It’s a very funny play and is the kind of thing that I feel like a streaming service should live stream or just record for content. On the same note, it’s astonishing to me that no streaming service has picked up an improv show to stream. Obviously, there are countless improv performances out there and in LA, there are quite a few with recognizable actors; I have to imagine there could be a way to do a low budget livestream. Of course, it doesn’t seem like there’s a single streaming service that is being run by a person with an ounce of creativity; hell, they can’t even successfully rip-off what YouTube and TikTok are doing.

Recxpectations - Tron: Ares

Tron: Ares is the latest attempt to elevate the Tron franchise. To me, Tron kind of is what it is; a style over substance exercise with scores that are better than the films (well, at least for the last two entries; I don’t remember the score of the original.) In this one, the plot is basically that rival corporations struggle to find the key to 3D printing living organisms, one side wanting to use it to help those in need and the other side wanting to create supersoldiers and military hardware to go with them.

EXPECT: A SERVANT WITH TOO MANY MASTERS
To me, the biggest issue for Tron: Ares is that it doesn’t seem to know what it is. It’s a Disney movie but it seems more aimed at adults than kids. It’s a sequel that tries to cater to new viewers but then has some moments that require you to have seen the earlier films. The core is a Sci-Fi film but it’s dumb Sci-Fi and really, it’s just a vehicle for a few cool-looking action scenes. It wants to be a message movie but doesn’t really seem to have much to say. The film is also torn between Ares and Greta Lee’s character and it doesn’t really tell either story with much depth. But, again, this is a movie about FX and the scores and it succeeds on that end… mostly.

EXPECT: CINEMA OF CHAOS
Cinema of Chaos is a term that was coined a while back to describe the trend of action scenes that had fast, hectic editing to the point that it was hard to decipher what was happening. The peak example is the opening scene of Quantum of Solace. It’s a lot of action and noise but it’s also complete mayhem and hard to follow. Tron: Ares isn’t as bad as that scene but nothing is really set-up and it’s basically just “Cool looking cars with neon tails coming out of them!” There also is a complete lack of fallout from most of the chases. One car is cut in half by the laser trail and then… it’s basically people breaking quickly like the cars in a Smokey & the Bandit movie. Now I have to admit that I’m bored of most chase scenes but these felt even more lackluster because of direction.

DON’T EXPECT: A SMART MOVIE
Listen, it’s Tron. It was never going to be hard sci-fi. And it’s not the dumbest movie and not near the suspension of disbelief needed by something like a Fast and Furious movie but the movie doesn’t have much of a relationship with logic. Especially when it comes to the antagonists’ weapons. Things that seem all-powerful one second seem to get nerfed when a key character is in the fight. Everyone chooses hand-to-hand combat when they clearly have better options at their disposal. To best enjoy the movie, you need to just turn your brain off and sit back and enjoy.

DON’T EXPECT: TRON ON EARTH
Most of the Tron on Earth scenes are in the trailer and the premise of these programs invading Earth doesn’t really come to fruition until the final act and even then it is on a smaller scale. This is another example of how the film was serving too many masters. They shoved too many premises into one film.

Ultimately, this film ended up at #36 on my list, in between The Lost Bus and The Roses.

Recxpectations: Play Dirty

Shane Black’s latest movie is “Play Dirty” (New Thing #29), Hollywood’s latest attempt to make the fetchest of characters, Parker, into a thing. From what I can gather, Parker is pretty much a no nonsense master criminal, which is pretty generic and bland nowadays. But the Hollywood suits keep trying to make it work. (Not that there haven’t been some quality adaptations but they’ve either been decades ago or not done in America.) I’m forgoing my usual attempt at being objective because I really didn’t care for this one.

EXPECT: AN OVERLONG 80s ACTION TV SHOW
It’s kind of bizarre that the guy who kind of pushed action films forward with Lethal Weapon suddenly devolved into a throwaway actioner like this. This film pretty much brings nothing new to the table. The opening scene absolutely reminded me of 80s action shows. Then it shifted to kind of Uncharted until it settled into being as generic as one could imagine.

EXPECT: HORRIBLE CGI
I think the biggest mistake movies make with special effects is that they believe they can get away with bigger scenes than they can afford because they can just rely on CGI to carry the load. But, of course, they never really seem to take into consideration how much GOOD special effects cost and then you end up with something that looks like the rough draft of a video game cut scene. “Play Dirty” has multiple action scenes with horrible CGI. They should have instead rewritten the script and come up with some clever action set-ups that they could have afforded.

EXPECT: SHANE BLACK’S WORST
Shane Black isn’t without his misfires and I know that Predator fans will say that Shane Black’s take on that franchise is his biggest sin but, for me, this one was the most disappointing. And I say that as someone who went in with lower expectations. This is my second least favorite film of the year. Mark Wahlberg is in his muted “tough guy” mode. LaKeith Stanfield does what he can with the surprisingly lame material. It just feels like another director got a bag of money from a streamer and decided to fart out whatever came to mind.

I also have to add that nobody has bystanders killed for laughs like Shane Black does. He did it in Nice Guys (a film I love) and again here. This one isn’t as random as the two in Nice Guys but does seem unnecessary.

New Thing #28: Eureka Day

Sometimes going blind into something is a plus and sometime’s it’s better to know what you’re getting into. Eureka Day is billed as a comedy - and there are a lot of moments that had the crowd laughing raucously - the core of the play is a debate over vaccinations. As good as the play is (and it is quite good), I feel like there are a lot of people who probably aren’t all that interested in rehashing that debate.
Still, everyone should go see it and support the arts! The performances are great! Go to Pasadena Playhouse while you still have the chance!

New Things Tuesday: Trivia @ Kiez Küche & Beer Garden

Tuesday was a surprisingly busy day on the new things front. Things kicked off with trivia at Kiez Küche & Beer Garden (New Thing #24) in Highland Park. It’s a nice spot and I had some schnitzel which was fine. I can’t say that this is a destination eatery but if you’re looking for some easy trivia, this place has it. We only missed like a handful of questions and took first place.

After trivia, I decided to bop around town on a solo mission. One thing I learned is that, on Tuesdays, Highland Park bars tend to close at midnight. I stopped in a Johnny’s - Cocktails and Hi-Fi (New Thing #25) which was fine. A bunch of people drinking alone, which was a little odd for a nice spot but hey, I was adding to that vibe so I can’t say anything. Maybe on a busier night it is more social but it struck me as a date place or somewhere to go to catch up with friends.

After that, I went to a questionable new thing - I headed west and went to The High Low (New Thing #26). which is the new version of The Griffin. I’d been to The Griffin before but I’m still counting it as new. I really liked the set-up. It’s a cool bar and they fixed it up nicely and then off in a side room they had karaoke. The karaoke wasn’t that intrusive to the main bar so it was kind of the best of both worlds.

Finally, I decided to check out The Gentleman’s Club (New Thing #27), which was kind of dumb because how busy did I expect a strip club to be on a random Tuesday night. I was the only guy in the place but the ladies were nice and I found someone to fall in love with since I’m an easy mark so that was fun. I was surprised to find that this place also served beer after 2am which appears to be a trend for Glendale strip clubs.

New Thing #23: Verse in Toluca Lake

Verse is billed as a supper club built inside of recording studio. The restaurant comes from a Grammy-winning sound mixer and promises live music every night. And I have to say, the sound is pretty much perfect. We had a duo of Spanish guitar players - we were told it was flamenco music when we sat down but I didn’t get that vibe from them, not that I’m well versed in flamenco music - and it was the perfect volume. Loud enough to listen to but quiet enough that you could still have a conversation. The food was also quite good. I got the lobster tagliatelle that made me nervous at first because it was surrounded by the foam but it was foamed butter so nothing crazy. I’d definitely recommend Verse for a date night or quieter dinner with friends; this definitely isn’t a place that you want to have any sort of boisterous meet-up but if you’re looking for a meal with some nice ambience, Verse is a good spot in The Valley.
My only real concern about the place is that it is open from 5 - 10 and, since there is music to listen to, it feels like a place that will only get one sitting per table, two at most. We showed up at 6:30 and left at 9. And there weren’t many people there when we arrived and I didn’t see anyone leave while we were there. I have to imagine that one seating a night isn’t great for a restaurant, even if they own the building.

Recxpectations: One Battle After Another

Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film “One Battle After Another” comes out this weekend and it feels like a film that could become a lightning rod even though I personally didn’t think it said all that much.

EXPECT: A THREE HOURS EXPERIENCE
The runtime is around two hours and forty five minutes so, when you add in trailers and what not, you’re going to be in your seat for three+ hours. Personally, I didn’t feel the time at all for the first two hours but the third act started to drag for me.

EXPECT: AN ACTION MOVIE
When compared to other Hollywood action films, One Battle After Another is obviously going to be a critical darling. And if you go into it expecting a Hollywood action film, you probably won’t be as disappointed when the last 45 minutes of One Battle After Another becomes One Cliche After Another. It’s odd that there were complaints about how to market this film because it’s arguably PTA’s most commercial movie. Although I think the concerns were because…

EXPECT: CONSERVATIVE COMPLAINTS
On one hand, I can’t disagree with conservatives who complain that the right wing figures in this film are borderline cartoonish. On the other hand, our current real-life Conservative leaders are pretty darn cartoonish. There also isn’t much pushback or questioning of the domestic terrorists who are the protagonists in the film. I expect right-wing pundits to go too far with their complaints per usual but I can absolutely understand and agree with the core of their discontent even if…

DON’T EXPECT: A POLITICAL FILM
One Battle After Another is a movie of the time more than about the time. Our current political situation is the backdrop of the movie but it’s an action movie more than a statement movie. It’s like saying The Beekeeper is making a statement about the heartless financial corruption that permeates all of American life and politics. I honestly don’t know what it’s trying to say unless it really is saying that all conservatives are cartoonish racists and domestic terrorists are righteous but I can’t imagine that’s what PTA is going for. Sadly, I think some people will claim this is political because just showing Mexican immigrants as people and not criminals is treated like a major statement. But that criticism is more of a comment on modern times than the movie is.

I’m not sure where to rank One Battle After Another; I have it at #6 right now but it could be as high as #3.

Recxpectations: Adulthood

Adulthood is a film about two siblings who, after their mother ends up in the hospital with a stroke, return to their childhood home and discover a body hidden in the walls. Dark hijinks ensue. (I would recommend only watching the first minute or so of the trailer or skipping it outright because it shows a lot of the movie.)

EXPECT: BLAND FARGO
Small town noir/murder stories are always going to get compared to Fargo, which is probably unfair since that is a classic that few will live up to, but such is life and this film lacks the quirkiness of the Coen Brothers. Josh Gad’s character is a Hollywood writer, which leads to a few good jokes but not much more. The location was everytown; I saw a map of New York in a scene but the film was shot in Ottawa. I know that it’s hard to build a sense of community in a lower budgeted (I’m assuming) film that can’t give a bunch of random characters speaking lines but this film felt like the characters were almost completely isolated from the outside world. “Adulthood” is focused almost completely on the siblings and I feel like it could have been better if it was more of an ensemble piece.

EXPECT: SHODDY POLICE WORK
I understand that people don’t have a ton of faith in the police and, given the solve rate for murders, maybe that lack of faith has been earned, but it always bugs me when cops just miss obvious things and this movie even has the detective straight up say that it’s awfully suspicious that so much is happening since the brother and sister have shown up. But there’s almost zero investigation and I feel like the detective character has maybe one scene that doesn’t include the siblings. There’s one moment in particular that should have been fairly impactful but it is never mentioned again.

DON’T EXPECT: A TON OF TWISTS AND TURNS
The synopsis of the movie makes it seem like there’s one twist after another. About an hour into the movie, I thought, “So this is more like hijink (singular) ensues.” I’m not saying that there aren’t a few turns along the way but I’d hardly call it a twisty movie; it’s moreso in the genre of “Someone gets increasingly in over their head.”

EXPECT: A FEEL BAD MOVIE
This was never going to be a feel good movie but, by the end, I was pretty much turned off. The lack of detective work made it less of a game of cat and mouse and more just watching a cat beat up a dead mouse. It’s also a movie that has a message and I can see what they are trying to say but it wasn’t a direction I wanted to go so I can’t say that they didn’t stick the landing but I was neither entertained nor impressed by how they wrapped things up.

Ultimately, the film is better than the standard straight-to-DVD crime drama but it’s ultimately a fairly forgettable experience. It’s a kind of film that gets a “Hey, you know what I just saw that wasn’t too bad” if you stumbled upon it on TV.

New Thing #20 - Alien: Earth

So I finished up the final episode of FX’s Alien: Earth and I have to say… it was OK. It is very well made and has a lot of cool ideas but my main problem with the show is that it worked better IMO as a Blade Runner series than an Alien spinoff. The aliens were kind of the least interesting element of the show and even though I liked some of what they did with the eyeball monster, it didn’t amount to much. The battle between the corporations and the different cyborg/synthetic beings was more interesting to me. I also feel like they made Wendy/Marcy too powerful. The show had too much of “And then Wendy is able too…” alongside the usual horror staple of people doing incredibly dumb things at the worst time. In general, people on the show accepted the existence of these crazy alien species a bit too quickly.

I’m probably in for Season 2 but I feel like that could take a while to materialize.

Recxpectation: The Lost Bus

The Lost Bus is an Apple+ movie with a limited theatrical release starring Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera. It’s a ripped-from-the-headlines movie; a true story about a bus driver who went to pick up some kids who were deep into the Camp Fire of 2018.

I’m not going to go too deep into this one because these kind of “Too Soon?” movies - usually made by Peter Berg/Mark Wahlberg - aren’t my cup of tea and a pet peeve of mine is when people who don’t like a genre of films pass judgement on new films in said genre. But let’s just say that this film didn’t change my mind on the genre.

EXPECT: a well-made movie of the week
Paul Greengrass (Bourne Supremacy/Ultimatum, Green Zone) directed the film and it has the feel of his previous films. The script, however, is pretty rough. The character moments are schmaltzy. The storyline about Cal Fire team trying to stop the spread of the fire is pretty much just there to serve as expository dialogue. While the direction was good, there were a few gimmicks they tried out that I didn’t think worked. And there’s also a random story that, as far as I could tell, they completely abandoned (but I could have misremembered that.)

Personally, I felt the film was probably 10 - 20 minutes too long. It ranks at #33 in my Movies of 2025 list.

New Thing #18: Izzie Pop's Amateur Night

Uncle Ollie’s Penthouse in DTLA is my new favorite bar and they had an Amateur Night that I decided to check out. About 15 seconds into the first dancer, I called bullshit on the “Amateur” angle unless there are a lot more people who just casually take pole dancing classes than I realize. All in all, it was a fun night. A lot of positive people celebrating people going out and doing their thing and the performers were impressive.
Uncle Ollie’s also has Gong Shot Karaoke on Wednesdays which I’ve done - you sing, three comedians watch and either gong you or give you an American Idol-style review when you’re done, the highest score of the night wins a bong - and that’s fun. It’s also just a cool looking bar so I recommend people check it out.

New Thing #17: COSM

I forgot to add “In The Mood For Love” (#16) in my New Things count so we’re onto New Thing #17 and that is seeing a game at COSM in Inglewood. COSM is kind of a mini-version of Vegas’s Sphere and they show sports games and movies there. I was a little nervous about going there because I wasnt sure if we were going to be stuck with one angle but they have multiple “in-stadium” angles and they also show the broadcast on the screen (although I feel like they could bring the broadcast screens down a bit.)
The tickets are around $100 but I think it’s worth checking out. The only downside is that the drinks are pricey and the food is probably not worth the money. It’s not bad but I’d recommend eating before the game.

Recxpectations: HIM

For my 15th New Thing out of 500, I checked out Him, the latest film NOT by Jordan Peele. Well, it’s produced by Mr. Peele but it’s directed by Justin Tipping. It’s a film about a young QB prospect who goes to train with his idol, the greatest of all-time, and something immediately seems unhinged about the training exercises.

EXPECT: the trailer.
I was hoping that this might be like Companion - the first trailer was unhinged but there was more to the story. (If you haven’t seen it, it’s my favorite movie of the year but do not watch the second trailer and don’t read the synopsis on HBO.) Unfortunately, what you see in the trailer is what you get from the film. It’s a film. the pretty much epitomizes It Is What It Is. There’s not a ton to it. There’s never really a sense of mystery since it gets pretty bonkers from the jump. I get the negative reviews since people were hoping for more but it’s just kind of an exercise in weirdness.

DON’T EXPECT: a horror film.
Again, this is mostly just an exercise in being weird. There’s a jump scare or two and some of the usual horror movie creepiness but the whole thing is set in such an unreal world that it’s hard to get too wrapped up in it. It’s less “What is going to happen next?” and more “Oh, so now THIS is happening. Cool.” The lead character also only shows the slightest bit of concern, which I think also feeds into the audience not really being on the edge of their seats.

DON’T EXPECT: it to stick the landing.
I try to stay away from spoilers so I can’t get into this much but, honestly, I’m not sure how the film could have stuck the landing. It was painfully obvious where it was going from the jump and, as I watched it, I wasn’t really looking forward to anything or wondering how something would work out or felt fearful of anything. There’s zero sense of foreboding in this one.

The film was watchable so I ended up ranking it at #34 for 2025, in between Caught Stealing and Highest 2 Lowest.

Recxpectations: The Baltimorons

I never got into the mumblecore movies and know Mark Duplass from The League rather than his indie films he made with his brother but I decided to use my Alamo Movie Pass and take in brother Jay’s new film, “The Baltimorons.”

EXPECT: a charmer
This is a film that lives and dies by how you like the main characters. I can see people not connecting with Michael Strassner’s lead character, Cliff and if you don’t, I think you can probably turn the movie off and go on with your day. Liz Larsen gives a winning performance and helped carry the movie for me - I didn’t dislike Cliff but I never really cared about him either way.
This also is a charmer in that it’s a film that makes you smile more than it makes you laugh. Honestly, there isn’t really a single memorable comedy moment. It’s almost a lighthearted drama more than it is a comedy.

DON’T EXPECT: anything groundbreaking
This is a classic indie film. The lead is a newly sober guy who is moving on from his dream (in this case, improv comedy) to live a “normal” life and he unexpectedly meets someone and hijinks/life lessons ensue. It’s also a film in which the victories are minor - if they are even victories at all.

EXPECT: a distraction
This film is a trifle. It’s something that makes you smile for a 100 minutes and then you probably won’t think about it again. It touches on some real issues but doesn’t really dig into any of them. Because of this, I wouldn’t call it a character piece. It’s a misadventure more than anything.

Currently, I have this ranked as my #19 movie of the year, just below “Pools”, which was another movie about a crazy evening - in that case, it’s college kids letting loose and finding themselves - but I connected a bit more with that one.

WARNING: The movie opens with a suicide attempt. I actually know someone who basically had what happened in the opening scene happen to him so that started me off in an awkward place but if you’re triggered by that, you should go in prepared.

New Thing #13: CaliChilli DTLA

CaliChilli - Unauthentic Indian Restaurant has been on my To Do list for a while as it has an interesting menu and is a short walk from my apartment. It’s housed in one of those cursed LA locations where nothing really lasts for much longer than a year or so. It’ll be interesting to see if this place can hold on because I wasn’t all that impressed by my meal. The portions were good and the prices were reasonable enough but I wouldn’t recommend the pork chops and the sticky ribs were ok but nothing to write home about. I might give it another go because there are other options I want to try on the menu and I also have a knack for ordering the wrong things at restaurants but I was hoping this might become a go to neighborhood spot but sadly, it didn’t hit the spot for me.

Monday Night New Things 09/16

The Regent Theater hosted a Monday Night Football watch party (New Thing #10) for the Chargers/Raiders game so I decided to check it out and see what it was like.
The set-up was no frills - they did flash lights with the teams’ colors on big plays - and it was kind of advertised as a social event but there was zero socializing with strangers so it was a miss on that front. Still, it was a fun place to watch the game, not surprisingly the audio was top notch. The biggest reason I wouldn’t go back is that the drinks were still music venue pricing so more than one would want to pay and the big screen and sound aren’t enough to make up for that.

For the Houston/Tampa Bay game, I checked out The Liberties (New Thing #11). Their website still calls it The Liberties of Dublin but everything I saw just had The Liberties on it; Google calls it Liberties DTLA. If I lived closer to it, this might be a go-to bar. I didn’t try the food but everyone was nice, they had a few different screens to watch the game, and I believe they also have a karaoke night. Sadly, I am never in the Westlake South area and it’s just a bit too far (1.8 miles) from me for a drop-in spot.

Finally, after the games, I made my long awaited visit to The Wolves. It’s a very pretty bar and is known for their mixed drinks. It’s a great spot for a date or to pop in for a drink if you go see a play at the LA Theater Center next door (which I still haven’t done.)

New Thing Weekend Recap 09/15

It wasn’t a great weekend for New Things.

I shimmied over to Burbank and checked out The Blue Room (#6) - which seems like a decent neighborhood bar - and Inkwell Tavern (#7), which is a fairly generic Valley bar. I moseyed over to Pink Diamonds (#8), a newer strip club that replaced the old Deja Vu but it was as underwhelming as most Deja Vus are. They did sell beer after 2am so if you want some late night suds and watch scantily clad ladies sitting around checking their phones, then maybe you’ll be into it.
On Sunday, I checked out Sunday Social (#9), a house music event at The Treehouse in Chinatown. The Treehouse is an underrated venue and my buddy pointed out that it was great to be at a place where there was music and dancing but you could still hear the person you were talking to and speak in a normal voice. There’s nothing special about Sunday Sessions but if you’re looking to get out of the house and sway to some music for a bit (or get down if you have the energy at the end of the weekend), there are worse options.

New Things #4 & 5: Going Back to Cahuenga

When I first moved to LA, I lived in Hollywood. It was the heyday of the Sunset Strip but I always felt more comfortable at Goldfingers, Star Shoes, or hanging out on Cahuenga. I believe the only bars still around from back then are Hotel Cafe, Burgundy Room, and The Room. Everything else has changed over multiple times but one of the newbies is a sports bar so my neverending search to find a great LA sports bar continued to The Palm and the Pine.

Nothing says LA Sports Bar scene like a place claiming to be “the original sports club since 2024.” The Palm and the Pine is kind of an unwieldy name and I’m not sure if a tennis themed bar is the best way to go in kind of a trashy stretch of Hollywood. Still, the bar has a good set-up with a lot of TVs and they are able to have live music after the games, which is a must. One problem LA sports bars have is that most of the games are over around 10 or 11, which means people are packing up for what should be prime time at a bar. On the food front, the wings were good not great, the fries almost tasted fishy (which was odd since they don’t have fish and chips on the menu) and the Old Man Mendo gripe is that the bar is filled with stools as opposed to seats with backs on them. The beer selection is fine.
If The Palm & The Pine can establish themselves as a sports bar with live music post-game, I think it has a chance to survive but, as of now, it doesn’t seem to have found its niche. (I’m also a bit biased here because Piano Bar was one of my favorite spots in Hollywood and they’ve never really replaced it.)

After The Palm and the Pine, I tried to go to Status Restaurant & Lounge - which is located where the old Velvet Margarita used to be - but sadly, they don’t have a liquor license so I couldn’t get my one drink to count it as a New Thing.

I bounced down instead to Tribute Bar which commits one of the major sins of LA bars - which do relatively small places make large bars in the center of the space. The worst offender of this is in DTLA - the NoyPitz - although they aren’t to blame. The people who took over the big space before them decided to plop in a huge bar and it’s never made much sense to me. Those owners wanted to create a space on one side of the bar that was VIP but there was nothing VIP about the bar and it screwed up the entire feng shui in order to create table service nobody wanted.

As for Tribute, it just seemed like a generic bar. And listen, not every bar has to have a theme but I feel like this Cahuenga corridor can’t be cheap and if you’re going to stay busy enough to make rent, you need some sort of draw.

Recxpectations: Lurker

Lurker almost feels like a companion piece to The Weeknd’s “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” It’s another movie in which an obsessed fan goes to great lengths to stay in the orbit of their favorite artist. Lurker focuses more on the obsessed fan than the artist. It’s yet another movie that I’d recommend avoiding the trailer because it gives away most of this slow burn movie.

EXPECT: to feel uncomfortable
I didn’t care for Lurker but it did successfully capture the vibe of discomfort. The film is a slow burn and the lead is clearly a bit off from the very jump so it’s less like watching someone’s slow descent into madness as it is watching a crazy person do their thing. If you enjoy films that are slow and make you squirm in your seat because you see what’s happening a mile away, this movie could be for you.

DON’T EXPECT: any heroes
Another reason that Lurker wasn’t for me is that I tend not to watch films or shows in which everyone’s kind of a jerk or full of it. Sometimes, lauded shows like “White Lotus” don’t work for me because of it; I see enough of horrible people in the real world, I don’t need to invite them into my life via entertainment as well. With Lurker, nobody is really a great person; everyone is deeply self-centered in their own way.

EXPECT: a film as self-centered as the main characters
Somewhat ironically, this movie is, itself, obsessed with the two leads. We don’t really learn about anyone else. There are some storylines involving tertiary characters that arise and then are pushed aside. The BS that everyone floats about how amazing the art is in the film (none of it is all that inspiring) isn’t really investigated. I honestly have no idea what the time frame of the movie was. The film gets lose in the relationship between the star and the stalker and, for me, didn’t really have much to say even about that.

I might be harsh on this one but, at the very least, I think it’s best to go in with low expectations. If it works for you, all the better!