Which Way, L.A.?
The Oscar-Nominated 'Crash' and the Real Los Angeles
Crash is one of five Oscar nominees for Best Picture this year. We'll know the winner on Sunday night. Conspicuously shot on the streets of Los Angeles, it covers 36 hours, during which a large, multi-racial cast of characters encounter each other on what the Internet Movie Base calls "the battle zones of intolerance." There's fear, rage and violence, as well as bigotry. Fans say it's about the "real LA," but critics are sputtering. We get two points of view. Long Beach-born Matt Welch, an 8-year resident of Los Angeles, is Assistant Editorial Page Editor of the Los Angeles Times. Israeli-born Ella Taylor, who has lived in Seattle and Boston, has live in Los Angeles for the last 16 years and is film critic for the LA Weekly.Reporters Notebook: Supervisor Burke Confirms RetirementYvonne Brathwaite-Burke got her start in public life on the staff of the McCone Commission, which investigated the 1965 Watts Riots. In 1966, when California politics was the province of white men, she became the first black woman ever elected to the State Assembly. In the 70's she was a member of Congress, and she's been on the LA County Board of Supervisors since 1992. Today she says she will not seek re-election in 2008. We speak with Burke about her plans to retire and her 40 years in public life.
By Warren Olney • • 30m ListenCrash is one of five Oscar nominees for Best Picture this year. We'll know the winner on Sunday night. Conspicuously shot on the streets of Los Angeles, it covers 36 hours, during which a large, multi-racial cast of characters encounter each other on what the Internet Movie Base calls "the battle zones of intolerance." There's fear, rage and violence, as well as bigotry. Fans say it's about the "real LA," but critics are sputtering. We get two points of view. Long Beach-born Matt Welch, an 8-year resident of Los Angeles, is Assistant Editorial Page Editor of the Los Angeles Times. Israeli-born Ella Taylor, who has lived in Seattle and Boston, has live in Los Angeles for the last 16 years and is film critic for the LA Weekly.
Supervisor Burke Confirms Retirement
Yvonne Brathwaite-Burke got her start in public life on the staff of the McCone Commission, which investigated the 1965 Watts Riots. In 1966, when California politics was the province of white men, she became the first black woman ever elected to the State Assembly. In the 70's she was a member of Congress, and she's been on the LA County Board of Supervisors since 1992. Today she says she will not seek re-election in 2008. We speak with Burke about her plans to retire and her 40 years in public life.
