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All Access: Looking Back on 20 Years of Covering the Newport Beach Film Fest

That a 20th anniversary Newport Beach Film Fest (NBFF) is happening Thursday, April 25 through May 2 is amazing when you consider the cinextravaganza’s humble beginnings. There had been a Newport Beach International Film Festival, which went belly-up in 1999 after a four-year run, leaving unpaid vendors, pissed-off volunteers and much ill will in its …

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Coachella’s Record Store Offers a Cool Oasis For Music Discovery

Most people probably don’t come to Coachella with plans to go crate digging for vinyl, but inevitably there’s a point when things at the festival’s annual pop-up record store get slammed. Thousands of sunburned Coachellians pop in and buy records throughout the daym storing them in the air-conditioned backroom to prevent warping from the sun. …

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Pairing to Film: Our Guide to the Newport Beach Film Festival’s Wine Selection

After launching just last year, the Newport Beach Film Festival’s Culinary Film Series is back to celebrate endeavors in the food and beverage industry. This intricate subject highlights the many achievements within the culinary community as well as the struggles and social economical hurdles that lay behind the curtain of what we consume everyday. Of …

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Dice Are How You Flex: Welcome to Dungeons & Dragons in Orange County

“So what would you guys like to do?” The question hung over the table for a few moments. Break into more safes? Explore another mineshaft? Head deeper underground in hopes of finding more treasure? Or just haul ass back to the surface? One person at the table worried aloud about running into “rock people.” “You …

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Fierce Warriors [Special Screenings, March 28-April 4]

Us. In Jordan Peele’s follow-up to his 2017 Oscar-winning Get Out, the writer/director/co-producer keeps it creepy as a family’s serenity turns chaotic when doppelgängers drop by. Various theaters; www.fandango.com. Daily through Thurs., April 4; visit website for show times and ticket prices; also at Art Theatre, 2025 E. Fourth St., Long Beach, (562) 438-5435; arttheatrelongbeach.org. …

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‘Titi, Nunu, and Klembolo: Helena Modjeska’s Fairy Tale Book’ Enchants at Laguna Art Museum

While wildflowers line our freeways, the hills are emerald green and turning yellow with mustard, the desert’s exploding with poppies, and billions of painted ladies are flying north, the world’s children walk out of schools in coordinated protests over threats to their future. As I sat outside in the sun after the protests on March …

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Irvine Mayor Declares Victory in OC Supervisor Race, Sanchez Stays Mum

UPDATE: MAR. 18, 11:45 A.M.: Irvine mayor Don Wagner, a Republican, declared victory last week in the Mar. 12 Orange County Board of Supervisors special election. His closest opponent, former Democratic congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, made no concession on account of wanting all the ballots to be counted. But after Friday afternoon’s tally, Wagner maintained a firm …

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What’s Next for Orange County’s Burgeoning Beer Scene?

Hidden among the arteries of our local freeways and often buried within boxy industrial complexes is a counterculture of flavors rooted in one of the world’s oldest beverages: beer. According to the Brewers Association, Orange County alone has the same number of breweries as the entire state of Nevada, with an estimated economic impact of …

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USC Bars Students Enrolled Through Alleged Newport Beach Fraudster

All USC applicants connected to the alleged admissions cheating scheme of a Newport Beach fraud defendant will be denied admission, according to campus sources. “Regarding the students associated with the alleged scheme, each case will be reviewed individually, and we will make informed, appropriate decisions based on that review,” states an email from the USC …

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