Well if this isn’t the most amazing thing: tree trunks re-purposed to become a pop-up library for strangers to share books.  Makes you wonder, if you could put just one book inside for strangers to read, what would it be? More photos at...

So I don’t know if we’re calling this TV or a web program or a DVD or something else.  My big question is, how are we going to organize our “to watch/read/listen” lists now that everything is split amongst a thousand platforms? In any event, I shall be watching this...

  Edited by J. Patrice Marandel Prestel In shops now Over the holiday I was finally able to see one of the most talked-about exhibits of the Los Angeles season. As you walk into the Resnick Pavillion at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, you can’t help but be overwhelmed by the...

  Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment In shops now Before the holidays I went to an art talk at the Getty where Peter Weller was speaking about the renaissance in Florence.  He brought up a conversation he’d had with cinematographer, Vittorio Storaro about the painter Giotto. ...

  Watch Episode 1 Rooster Teeth Productions You may have a nerd-fit when you see this. Kerry Shawcross and Chris Demarais are obsessive LOTR fans on a mission to walk in the hairy, fat footsteps of Frodo and Sam – all the way from Hobbiton to Mount Doom. It’s a journey of 120...

The teaser will debut on 17 December as well, and I’m counting the days…

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment In shops now When Disney and Pixar get together to make a film and put out a DVD, they’re not messing about. “Brave” is the heroic journey that follows young Merida through the Scottish highlands around her family’s castle. ...

Vendome by Jacques Boulay If you’ve been lucky enough to travel to Venice then you already know what a marvel it is to behold.  Next to walking along the Grand Canal yourself, the only way to take it all in is with a panoramic view. Jacques Boulay’s photographs capture two things...

Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital Download Warner Home Video In shops on 4 December After all the hubub  of teasers and trailers for the final installments of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, I managed to never find an opportunity to see it in the cinema. So I was delightfully...

  Lonely Planet In shops now First of all, hot air balloons are on the bucket list, so I had to pick this one up.  Also the Northern Lights.  And also, swimming with a whale shark.  So here is the Lonely Planet guide to the high-octane travel adventures we sometimes forget are so bloody...

Written by Tim Gray / Foreword by Martin Scorsese Rizzoli In shops now It’s hard to believe that Variety cost just five cents an issue when it was first printed in 1905.  I subscribe to it now and I can tell you that the price has gone up just a smidge. But there is no doubt that it...

  Chronicle Books In shops now I love this stuff.  My Mary Cassat notecards are lovely and all (purchased at a museum gift shop, of course), but innovative designs like these make great stocking stuffers for others or a nice little gift for yourself. This set has 16 writing sheets with the...

J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles On view through 10 February 2013 16 March – 16 June 2013 / Art Gallery of Ontario Though Los Angeles has only been an incorporated city since 1850, it is quickly catching up to the major art capitals of the world.  Its patrons have always been happy to...

Flammarion In shops now The Black Friday emails have already begun.  Though we have just passed the American election, it seems as though Thanksgiving Hannukkah and Christmas are already on top of us. One of the best items to file under “Kiss the Cook” for this season’s...

Marvel / Paramount Pictures Once we get past the election, it’s all about the delectable offerings for 2013, including what looks to be a much darker, and perhaps a little heartbreaking new Iron Man film.

by Diane Kochilas Chronicle Books In shops now If you’ve seen the previous three titles “The Country Cooking of France,” “The Country Cooking of Ireland” and  “The Country Cooking of Italy,” then you know what a remarkable feat of publishing they...

  by Maricel E. Presilla W.W. Norton & Company In shops now By this point it’s fairly well-known that I’m obsessed with cookbooks.  Despite calling Los Angeles home, however, I’ve never ventured all that deeply into the world of Latin cuisine.  But what enticed me most...

To honor the 30th anniversary of Banned Books Week, you’ll find 30 titles on this site that have been challenged, censored, banned, or even burned.  When you click on each title it gives a brief blip on why it was slapped on the list. Pretty fascinating...

Fox Home Entertainment In shops now In the year that brought us “Ted” and Seth MacFarlane hosting ‘SNL’ with his cannon of voices, it’s pretty great to sit down with the perennial comedy classic that is ‘Family Guy.’ Not only is this edition...

Fox Home Entertainment In shops now It seems there was a lot of excitement about Greta Gerwig and this film in general on its approach, but it somehow fizzled out by the time it hit the cinemas.  To be frank though, I’m even happier to watch at home, and “Lola Versus” has a...

by John Irving Simon & Schuster In shops now The first chapter in “A Widow for One Year” is called ‘The Inadequate Lamp Shade.’  If you haven’t read it, then you should be doing that instead of this, for it immediately throws you into the world Mr. Irving...

One of my favorite discoveries this past summer.

FOX Premieres Thursday @ 9p There has been much discussion in the press over the last year or so about how “Glee” would be handling the batch of very talented graduating seniors as the story of this Ohio high school glee club went forward.  As the series returns this week, Rachel...

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment In shops now As you prepare for the reboot of Spider-Man tomorrow (which is WELL worth it), it’s a perfect time to have a look back at the last go-round, which began way back in 2002. These reissues feature “Spider Sense Trivia Challenge” and...

Columbia Pictures In cinemas on Tuesday Considering that there are 16 trailers for “The Amazing Spider-Man” on the Apple trailer website and the abundance of coverage about the film, its cast and Sony’s perhaps-too-soon reboot of the franchise, I honestly thought I would...

This is how I feel on this Monday.  

Disney Blu-ray In shops now Poor Taylor Kitsch can’t catch a break.  Between “John Carter” and “Battleship” he’s doing a lot of big movies that aren’t making big money.  I’m really rooting for him come “Savages” time. Despite all...

by Nichole Robertson Chronicle Books In shops now Nichole Robertson has joined the ranks of many an American author who arrived at that moment of being “over it.”  In the two pages of text that serve as the introduction to this book of photographs, she recounts that moment when...

  eOne Home Video In shops now It’s pretty much impossible to watch “Hell on Wheels” without thinking of HBO’s “Deadwood.”  It was the era when America was just setting stakes into the ground and beginning to define itself as a nation, with nothing more...

Mill Creek Entertainment In shops now I’ve been waiting years for this. Right about now, cinephiles all over the world can’t stop saying the name Ridley Scott.  “Prometheus” will surely be one of the summer’s most exciting events – I have no doubt.  And...