Home Video Review: Emma Stone, Jonah Hill and Sally Field Make Netflix's 'Maniac' a Worthy Binge

Sep 24, 2018 12:45  |  Bob Grimm

Maniac is yet another Netflix series that plays like a long—but really good—movie.

Jonah Hill and Emma Stone reteam (after Superbad ) as two mentally exhausted individuals who volunteer for pharmaceutical experiments that involve a lot more than simply taking pills.

The premise—which allows for their cha...

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Alien Idiocy: 'The Predator' Is a Badly Edited, Poorly Written Disappointment

Sep 20, 2018 09:30  |  Bob Grimm

Well, that does it: After decades of trying, it’s become evident that nobody knows how to make a decent Predator sequel.

It’s not like the first film was a masterpiece. It was a goofy adventure pic featuring a superstar on the rise—who has been mysteriously absent from the sequels. Arnold Schwarzeneg...

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Home Video Review: Nicolas Cage Turns in His Best Performance in Years in Horror-Throwback Film 'Mandy'

Sep 17, 2018 13:30  |  Bob Grimm

It’s been a good year for gonzo Nicolas Cage. He got to go all psycho in Mom and Dad , and now, courtesy of director Panos Cosmatos, he gets his best role in a half-decade in psychedelic ’80s horror-throwback Mandy .

Cage plays Red Miller, a lumberjack living a good life in the Northwest with his wife, M...

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Party Crasher: Moderate Tom Campbell, a Former Congressman, Works to Launch a New Political Party in California

Sep 20, 2018 11:30  |  Ben Christopher, CALmatters

California state politics only comes in two flavors: Democrat or Republican. And according to the conventional wisdom, that isn’t changing anytime soon. We know, because we asked.

Two weeks ago, we teamed up with California Target Book to find out whether political insiders around the capitol think a...

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The Fear Factor: Increases in Hateful Rhetoric and Border Patrol Actions Cast Dark Shadows on the Coachella Valley's Immigrant Populations and Their American Dreams

Sep 19, 2018 07:00  |  Kevin Fitzgerald

Alan has now lived in the Coachella Valley for 17 years, ever since he was 17 years old.

Even though he has always worked hard and played by the rules—at least the rules that aren’t stacked against him—he doesn’t want his last name used in this story. The reason: Both he and his wife are undocumented...

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Cannabis in the CV: Marijuana Is Finally Being Tested for Molds and Pesticides—and Despite Short-Term Problems, This Is a Very Good Thing

Sep 18, 2018 15:30  |  Charles Drabkin

Pesticides are a problem.

In August, the Environmental Working Group—a nonprofit “dedicated to protecting human health and the environment”—announced the results of a study it commissioned to test foods made with oats. The group found glyphosate, an herbicide linked to cancer, in nearly all of them. 

P...

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The Weekly Independent Comics Page for Sept. 20, 2018!

Sep 20, 2018 07:00  |  Staff

On this week's mushroom-shaped weekly Independent comics page: The K Chronicles ponders Donald Trump's fervent supporters; This Modern World looks at yet another Trump tweet cycle; Jen Sorenson predicts Brett Kavanaugh's oath of office; Red Meat offers up some special milk; and Apoca Clips talks to Li...

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Know Your Neighbors: Meet Sharron Stroud, a Peace Activist and a True Light in the Desert

Sep 19, 2018 14:30  |  Anita Rufus

When you meet Sharron Stroud, you immediately see the light that surrounds her: It’s not just the light blonde hair, but a radiance that shines from within.

Stroud, 74, a 17-year resident of Palm Springs, is minister at the Innerfaith New Thought Spiritual Center , which meets Sundays at 10:30 a.m. at ...

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Savage Love: I Could Climax With My Boring Ex—But I Can't With My Amazing New Boyfriend; What Should I Do?

Sep 19, 2018 11:00  |  Dan Savage

I am newly divorced and have started a relationship with a man I’ve known and deeply cared about for decades. The sex is amazing—from start to finish, I feel better than I ever did, even in the best moments with my ex. And in the most intense moments? He makes me see stars. He is a very generous lov...

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Funny in Love: Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman Kick Off Season 2 of Palm Springs Speaks

Sep 19, 2018 16:35  |  Dwight Hendricks

On Oct. 2, The Greatest Love Story Ever Told: An Oral History , a book by Hollywood comedy couple Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman, is being released—and three days later, the hilarious duo will kick off the second season of the Palm Springs Speaks series.

The speakers’ series is a joint effort by the ...

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Western Lit: Two New Memoirs Tell Stories About the Beauty—and Dangers—of Living in the Wild

Sep 06, 2018 10:00  |  Laura Pritchett, High Country News

Those of us who are ravenous readers of books set in the American West are used to stories of living life on the edge, off the grid, out of the box.

But two new memoirs, both debuts, take isolation and fortitude to a delightful, and at times terrifying, extreme. Both are complex reflections by maveri...

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Western Lit: Luis Alberto Urrea's New Novel Reflects on Family Relationships That Transcend the U.S.-Mexico Border.

Aug 30, 2018 13:30  |  Sarah Tory, High Country News

Last winter, at a talk in Aspen, Colorado, author Luis Alberto Urrea described his childhood in a rough San Diego neighborhood near the border, where his family moved from Tijuana during a tuberculosis outbreak.

Born to a Mexican father and an American mother, the blue-eyed, blond child spoke Spanish...

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Man of Miracles: Styx Bassist Chuck Panozzo Talks About Coming Out and Living With HIV, in Advance of the Band's Show at Agua Caliente

Sep 25, 2018 16:00  |  Brian Blueskye

In 1998, Styx bassist Chuck Panozzo was rather sick with HIV, and struggling as a closeted gay man—while performing in one of the world’s most successful rock bands.

He decided he needed to focus on his health for several years. He toured with Styx only part-time, and in 2001, he came out as gay and ...

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Daze on the Move: Phil Pirrone's Desert Daze Fest Finds Yet Another New Home, This Time at Lake Perris

Sep 25, 2018 08:45  |  Brian Blueskye

Since its inception in 2012, Desert Daze has already been held in three different locations.

As of October 2018 … make that four.

After the inaugural festival in Desert Hot Springs in 2012, it spent three years at the Sunset Ranch Oasis in Mecca, and then two years at the Institute of Mentalphysics in...

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Onstage Occasionally: The Members of Se7en4, Playing at The Hood, Make the Most of Their Time Together

Sep 21, 2018 11:00  |  Brian Blueskye

If you’ve never seen a show by Se7en4, you’ve been missing out.

Unfortunately, chances to see Se7en4 have been few and far between as of late. The band played its first show in a long time earlier this year at The Hood Bar and Pizza—and will be playing there again on Friday, Oct. 12.

Se7en4 has been r...

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Restaurant News Bites: Spotlight 29 Adds Mexican Restaurant, Food Court; Taste of Palm Springs Returns; and Tons More!

Sep 24, 2018 13:00  |  Jimmy Boegle

Spotlight 29 Opens New Food Court, Mexican Restaurant

Gamblers, show-goers and foodies who find themselves at Spotlight 29—located at 46200 Harrison Place, in Coachella—now have a whole bunch more food options than they did before.

La Diabla Maria , located in what used to be the Groove nightclub, is o...

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Vine Social: Biased Against Screw Caps? Get Over It—Because What Matters Is What's in the Bottle, Not What's Sealing It

Sep 17, 2018 14:00  |  Katie Finn

Here we are in 2018, 54 years since the first screw-cap wine was released—and somehow, people are still apprehensive about this alternative wine-sealing method.

At a recent wine-education seminar I was hosting, we did a side-by-side tasting of several wines. One of the first sets of wines we opened i...

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On Cocktails: Shrubbs and Switchels Are Delicious and Refreshing—With or Without Alcohol

Sep 14, 2018 10:00  |  Kevin Carlow

A funny thing about the Coachella Valley: Opinions on the “slowest month” in the bar industry vary greatly depending on whom you ask. After what was a surprisingly OK summer, it seems that as of this mid-September writing, we are smack-dab in my nominee for the slowest bar month.

Now, it would be sel...

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