Home Video Review: Netflix's 'Haunting of Hill House' Is Both Great Horror and a Fine Family Drama

Oct 22, 2018 17:45  |  Bob Grimm

I binge watched the 10-episode, 10-hour series The Haunting of Hill House in a day on Netflix—and I wanted more.

So, yeah, it’s good.

Based, very loosely, on the Shirley Jackson novel, it tells the story of a family living in a creepy house while the parents (Carla Gugino and Henry Thomas) renovate it f...

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Man on the Moon: 'First Man' Does an Excellent Job of Showing the Space Race Through the Eyes of Neil Armstrong

Oct 18, 2018 09:30  |  Bob Grimm

Space-exploration movies based upon real events, not surprisingly, have usually made “the mission” the thrust of the plot.

First Man goes a different route. It dares to focus on a man rather than a mission—Neil Armstrong, the man at the center of the Apollo 11 mission, and what made him tick. It shows...

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One Crazy Night: An All-Star Cast Helps 'El Royale' Succeed Despite Its Excessive Length

Oct 18, 2018 08:15  |  Bob Grimm

Writer-director Drew Goddard, who hadn’t directed a film since The Cabin in the Woods in 2012, assembles an all-star cast for a nutty film—that’s sometimes a little too cute for its own good.

The star of this movie is the El Royale, a fictional hotel based on Lake Tahoe’s Cal Neva hotel, once owned by ...

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Mid-Valley Decisions: Palm Desert Voters Will Say Yes or No to Cannabis Businesses, and Elect Two Members of the City Council

Oct 22, 2018 17:35  |  Kevin Fitzgerald

Palm Desert was incorporated as a city just 45 years ago—on Nov. 26, 1973, making it the second-youngest city in the Coachella Valley.

This November, Palm Desert is poised to become the fourth valley city to approve and regulate cannabis-industry retail sales, commercial cultivation and delivery serv...

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Registration Consternation: DMV Motor-Voter Problems Fuel GOP Claims of Voting Fraud

Oct 17, 2018 07:00  |  Laurel Rosenhall, CALmatters

The California Department of Motor Vehicles has given the public a series of piecemeal explanations as it acknowledged making more than 100,000 errors in recent months while registering Californians to vote.

Software problems, it said in May. Human errors from toggling between computer windows, it sa...

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Cannabis in the CV: When It Comes to Treating Pets With Marijuana, Knowledge Is Hard to Find

Oct 16, 2018 14:45  |  Charles Drabkin

A new law directing the California Veterinary Medical Board to create guidelines for veterinarians to discuss pets’ use of cannabis was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in September, and will go into effect on Jan. 1.

Assembly Bill 2215 is surprisingly controversial—for several different reasons. On one ha...

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The Weekly Independent Comics Page for Oct. 18, 2018!

Oct 18, 2018 07:00  |  Staff

On this week's pumpkin-spice-flavored weekly Independent comics page: This Modern World watches how conservatives respond to an extinction-level event; Jen Sorenson fears a taxing day at the polls; The K Chronicles enjoys some youth baseball; Apoca Clips watches as Li'l Trumpy and Li'l Kayne babble; a...

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Know Your Neighbors: Meet Barbara Fast, a Lawyer Turned Pastor—With a Knack for Storytelling

Oct 17, 2018 14:30  |  Anita Rufus

Back when the news was being dominated by the federal “zero-tolerance policy” which was resulting in family separations at the border, I attended a presentation by the writers’ group at Coachella Valley Repertory—always a great way to experience local talent.

The final writer performing her original ...

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Savage Love: I Saw an Employee of Mine at a Masturbation Club; What Should I Do?

Oct 17, 2018 11:00  |  Dan Savage

I have a secret: For the past three months, I’ve been attending a local jacks club (a men-only masturbation event). As someone recovering from sexual abuse, I find the party to be safe, therapeutic and just sexy fun. I feel like I need this!

Unfortunately, I spotted one of my employees at last week’s...

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Mall Art: The Westfield Palm Desert's STREET Party Celebrates Culture, Music and Food

Oct 21, 2018 11:45  |  Brian Blueskye

Let’s face it: When you think “shopping mall,” you don’t think “cool cultural events.” Yet for the past three years, that’s exactly what’s happened at the Westfield Palm Desert with the popular and ever-growing STREET event.

STREET takes food, art, music and fashion—and incorporates it all into one f...

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New Beginnings: The Excellent Production of 'The Sugar Witch' Proves the Desert Rose Playhouse Is in Good Hands

Oct 06, 2018 19:25  |  Bonnie Gilgallon

Life is all about change, and there have been some major changes at the Desert Rose Playhouse this season—all of which bode well for the theater’s future.

After years of putting on excellent, edgy productions, founder and artistic director Jim Strait and his partner, producer Paul Taylor, have retire...

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On Their Own: After 50 Years Under the Wing of the Palm Springs Art Museum, the Artists Council Is Becoming Independent

Sep 28, 2018 08:30  |  Stephen Berger

The Artists Council was established 50 years ago when the Palm Springs Museum was still primarily a natural history and science museum. The purpose of the council was to sponsor exhibitions of local artists and bring support for the arts into the mix of the museum's offerings.

The early work of the A...

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The Lucky 13: Alex Harrington, DJ and Creator of Hit Album 'Stargazer'

Oct 19, 2018 11:00  |  Brian Blueskye

DJ Alex Harrington dropped his new album, Stargazer , in early October—and within two weeks, the album had already generated 250,000 streams and a whole lot of buzz. The album is a fantastic production from start to finish with a lot of nu-disco awesomeness. For more information on Alex Harrington, vi...

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Big Boo, Bowie Lover, Big Dyke: Lea DeLaria Brings Her Powerful Blend of Comedy and Jazz to the McCallum Theatre

Oct 18, 2018 11:00  |  Jimmy Boegle

Lea DeLaria is known for different things in different circles.

Mainstream audiences know her for stealing scenes as Carrie “Big Boo” Black on Netflix’s hit series Orange Is the New Black .

LGBT audiences know her as a pioneering comedian. She started performing in San Francisco in the early 1980s, and ...

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The Lucky 13: Brent Simpson of Daytime Moon (Playing at the Beatnik Lounge and The Saguaro)

Oct 16, 2018 12:45  |  Brian Blueskye

If you've never listened to Daytime Moon before, you really should fix that. This majestic three-piece band—which includes Brent Simpson, formerly of Spankshaft—incorporates several different genres into the music. The band will perform at the Beatnik Lounge on Wednesday, Oct. 17, and The Saguaro on...

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On Cocktails: Garnishes Can Be Wonderful Parts of a Good Drink … If Both the Bartender and Consumer Know What They're Doing

Oct 17, 2018 13:00  |  Kevin Carlow

This town turns on a dime. Last month, I was writing about the slowest time of the year and sipping switchel . This month, I need an ice pack for my right elbow and a brace for my knee as I look for new gray hairs in the mirror.

If I were more of a traditional beverage writer, I would offer a list of s...

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Vine Social: You Don't Need to Become a Sommelier to Learn a Lot About Wine

Oct 15, 2018 16:00  |  Katie Finn

Everyone I know in the wine industry has had their own personal “Ah-ha!” moment—when wine became more than just a classy way to get drunk, when we went from simply enjoying the way the wine tastes to becoming consumed with every aspect of it.

Where was it grown? How was it grown? How did the winemake...

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Desert Cicerone: Semi-Random Thoughts on a Local Blog, the Greatness of Modern Times and Various IPA Sub-Styles

Oct 11, 2018 13:00  |  Brett Newton

I have a lot on my mind. However, I will spare you from all but the beer things on my mind. I thought the best way to handle this would be to kinda-sorta do this à la Larry King’s odd USA Today column from some years ago: I’ll just hit on random topics that don’t necessarily have any relation to each ...

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