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When photographer Peter Turnley was just 20 years old, an acquaintance from the California Office of Economic Opportunity reached out to him with a question. Would he be interested in taking four months off from school in Michigan to come out west, drive around, and take pictures of the state’s poor and working-class populations? An eager Turnley jumped at the chance and ended up spending the summer of 1975 traversing California in his tiny white Volkswagen, doing everything from spending time with migrant farmworkers in the San Joaquin valley to hopping trains with travelers looking for work to chatting up Oaklanders about how they were making ends meet.

But then his OEO contact left mid-project and, while Turnley says he submitted a set of prints to the department, they never ended up seeing the light of day. That will all change Dec. 4, when the pictures — along with others the news photographer has taken in his current hometown, Paris — will go on display at the Leica Gallery in L.A.

Why did California’s OEO think of you for this project back in 1975?

When I was a freshman in college at the University of Michigan, during the winter break, I went back to Fort Wayne, Indiana, which is where I’m from. There was a very progressive mayor in power at that point and he assembled a really interesting group of people in his city government.

When I began photography at the age of 16, I decided to use it to try to change the world, and I particularly admired photographers that had used photography to affect public policy, like the Farm Security Administration photographers in the 1930s, which included people like Dorothea Lange. So I convinced this mayor to hire me to shoot pictures for the city of Fort Wayne on the themes that the city was making policy around.

During that time, I met a woman who was the public affairs officer for the city of Fort Wayne. Unbeknownst to me, two years later she moved out to California and that’s how I got a letter at the end of my sophomore year of college asking me if I would be willing to come out to California to do a four-month road trip to document the lives of the working class and the poor of California. She explained to me that the Office of Economic Opportunity needed to make a report that underlined its efforts in trying to help the the poor of California, and that they they wanted to use these photographs as a way to illustrate that report.

I was given some very basic statistics of pockets of poverty around the state of California, but no other specific direction, and I was promised just enough money to cover fleabag hotels and diner food and gasoline. I was given access to a government darkroom in Sacramento, where occasionally I would go to develop film and make contact sheets and prints, but otherwise, I was out, driving to every corner of the state.

What were your impressions of the state before you came, as someone originally from the Midwest?

I didn’t grow up on a farm [in Indiana] but I knew a little bit about farming and what really struck me when I went out to California was what I think most of the world doesn’t really realize, and that is that [much] of the state is agricultural and rural. In many ways, the San Joaquin Valley felt a whole lot more like Indiana than almost any other place I could imagine.

What did you take away from the project as a whole?

One of the aspects of this body of work that fascinates me and that I guess in some ways I’m very proud of is that one feels in the photography and in the connection with people an almost innocent and authentic view. The pictures are very direct. They’re very human and they really deal with the lives of people, because you’re looking into their eyes and getting close to them.

Another thing that struck me was that because I was dealing particularly with people that were working class or often very poor, that there was something very similar in terms of people’s plight, whether they were living in urban areas or in the countryside. Everyone I met seemed like really decent, good, hard-working people that just wanted a better life for themselves and their family. They wanted to survive with dignity, and I felt that we all owe these people a great sense of debt.

I also remember that when I spent some time with hobos — and I’m not sure if that’s a pejorative word today, but they’re a little different category of people than simply those who are homeless. Hobos were most often men that chose this lifestyle to ride the trains and stop and work in various places. But I remember being in a boxcar with four men and all four were pretty much like everyone else. It was just that their lives had kind of crossed over a line into the margins, just by a thread. And I remember realizing at this young age just how fragile life is, or how close we can be to that line at almost any time.

Something I found striking in these pictures is how little has changed, in some ways. There have always been people working in California’s fields that are underpaid and underappreciated, and in some ways, things have only gotten worse for a lot of that population.

During COVID, I lived in New York City and every day for three months from the very first day of the lockdown, I went out and I walked. I would meet people and I would ask them three questions: What was their name, their age, and how were they making it? And then after three months, I went back to Paris, and I walked the streets there and did the same thing, ultimately making a book of the pictures I took from that time called “A New York-Paris Visual Diary: The Human Face Of Covid-19.”

But the thing that struck me during COVID was that it was the working class of New York that saved all of our lives. There were whole walls of buildings on the Upper West Side that were dark at night because everyone had gone to the Hamptons or left New York, but the people that saved our lives were cashiers, postal workers, FedEx workers, nurses, doctors, medics, ambulance drivers and mostly working-class people. And looking back, I had this hope that maybe when the COVID crisis was over, that we would rectify in a general way how we looked at our society and how we value the people that are actually doing the work in our society, but in actuality, once the lockdown was over, we just went back to being ruled and led by people that have a lot of money. And, really, the well-to-do of California and the rest of the world would never go and pick their own strawberries.

Have you kept in touch with anyone whose picture you took in 1975, or heard from anyone after the fact?

I’ve for sure wondered what happened to all the people in the pictures, but unfortunately over all these years, I’ve never had contact with anyone. It would be absolutely amazing if somebody from that time would come out of the woodwork.

You’ve been a working photographer for over 50 years now, having worked in 90 countries, taking 40 covers for Newsweek, and shooting many of the last century’s most important geopolitical events. Are there moments you still can’t believe you saw, or pictures you can’t believe you took?

Well, just this morning, I signed the prints that will be in this exhibit and they’re really beautiful. They’re made in Paris and they’re traditional silver gelatin prints, beautiful quality. But I held up one of the images from The Other California – 1975, and it was this Okie, a guy that was born during the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma and moved out to California. Looking at that image today, looking in the eyes and the face of this man, I really had the impression that — even though it’s my own photograph — that I was looking at one of Dorothea Lange’s photographs. I’m very proud of the fact that there’s a continuity of that kind of attention to the heart of people’s lives in my work.

In this modern era of digital photography, on the one hand I think it’s wonderful that everyone is making photographs now more than ever before. On the other hand, I think that the world of photography has moved away from real powerful, direct human connection. And to me, that’s what’s most important. I’m a lot more interested in life than I am in photography. I mean, I care a lot about photography. I love beautiful photographs, and I try to take them as well as possible, but what’s most important to me are the themes of life that I photograph and at the center of all that is emotion.

Somehow, someway, Los Alamitos is your Southern Section Division 2 football champion. A team of overachievers filled with a roster of best friends combined chemistry, determination and toughness to overcome all odds.

Saturday night before an overflow crowd at San Clemente High, the Griffins recorded seven sacks and took advantage of one of the strangest touchdowns scored by a lineman to beat the Tritons 33-20. This same Los Alamitos team lost to San Clemente 28-9 in a league game on Oct. 24.

“I’m not smart enough to articulate how I feel and how proud I am of these guys,” said Los Alamitos coach Ray Fenton, who was hugging one player after another.

Los Alamitos (12-2) received a sensational performance from quarterback Colin Creason, who completed his final 13 passes and combined with the Griffins’ strong running back tandem of Kamden Tillis and Lenny Ibarra to generate enough offensive firepower to end San Clemente’s five-game winning streak and deliver the Griffins their first championship since 2002.

The game changed on consecutive plays late in the third quarter after San Clemente took a 20-17 lead on a 35-yard field goal by Ethan Miller. Creason completed a shovel pass to tight end Beckham Hofland inside the five-yard line, but he fumble the ball. It went off the leg of a San Clemente defender and was picked up by offensive guard Luke Wehner, a rugby player who knew exactly what to do to score his first high school touchdown — run toward the goal line. He went seven yards for a 24-20 lead.

“I was so scared,” Hofland said.

Said Wehner: “I was not expecting that at all.”

Then Los Alamitos forced a San Clemente fumble on the next offensive play that was recovered by Hunter Eligon. Tillis scored a 22-yard touchdown for a 30-20 lead. The momentum and the game had switched to Los Alamitos.

Individuals kept stepping forward to deliver big moments for the Griffins. Jackson Renger had two of his team’s seven sacks. Hofland had a 24-yard touchdown catch and two field goals. Tillis rushed for 141 yards. The versatile Ibarra had an interception, a 65-yard punt and rushed for 99 yards. And Los Alamitos’ offensive line kept creating opportunities for Creason and the running backs.

The first half ended in a 17-17 deadlock when Hofland made a touchdown catch for Los Alamitos with 39 seconds left. San Clemente had opened a 17-3 lead behind Jaxson Rex, who had a 25-yard catch, forced a fumble and made an interception. Colin Granite scored two touchdowns on short runs.

Los Alamitos’ no-huddle, up-tempo offense started to cause problems for San Clemente’s defense. Tillis had 100 yards rushing at halftime while Creason had 156 yards passing.

Los Alamitos won the Southern Section Division 2 championship with a 33-20 win over San Clemente.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Los Alamitos started the season 8-0, then lost to San Clemente and Mission Viejo in consecutive Alpha League games. The Griffins regrouped and never stopped believing in themselves. They are expected to face San Diego Section champion Cathedral Catholic in a state playoff game next weekend.

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s David Zahniser, with an assist from Noah Goldberg, giving you the latest on city and county government.

L.A. City Hall is not known for making things simple for real estate developers — especially those seeking approval of large, complicated projects.

Yet earlier this year, Westwood resident Zach Sokoloff navigated the city’s bureaucratic obstacle course, winning City Council approval of a $1-billion plan to redevelop Television City, the historic studio property on Beverly Boulevard.

Now, Sokoloff is hoping to make what some might view as a baffling career change, jumping from Hackman Capital Partners, where he is senior vice president for asset management, to a job as L.A.’s next elected city controller.

For that to happen, Sokoloff would need to defeat City Controller Kenneth Mejia, who is running for another four-year term in June. That’s a tall order, given Mejia’s social media savvy, his status as an incumbent and his deft use of graphics highlighting the minutiae of city government — sometimes featuring hat-wearing corgis.

In 2022, Mejia secured more votes than any other candidate in city history, as he and his team like to point out. Former state Sen. Isadore Hall, who is also running against Mejia, has his own track record of winning elections.

Sokoloff, by contrast, has never run for public office. He’s spent the past seven years at Hackman, which proposed the 25-acre Television City project and owns other studio properties.

A onetime grade school algebra teacher, Sokoloff promised to emphasize “leadership through listening” if he is elected, shining a light on areas where the city is struggling and working collaboratively to find solutions.

Sokoloff gave some credit to Mejia for seeking to make city government more transparent and understandable. But he argued that such efforts are only a starting point.

Mejia’s audits, he said, “just aren’t moving the needle.”

“He’s shown a preference for lobbing criticism after the fact, rather than getting involved early on to shape the outcome,” Sokoloff said in an interview.

Mejia spokesperson Jane Nguyen pushed back, saying Mejia has championed an array of policy changes, including the creation of a chief financial officer position and a move to “multi-year budgeting.”

In an email, Nguyen said public officials have been responding to Mejia’s audits by working to improve oversight of rents for affordable housing, purchases of military equipment by the Los Angeles Police Department and housing placements by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

“Despite our small audit staff, this work is ‘moving the needle’ and making a difference in city policies and departments while improving the quality of life of Angelenos,” she said.

Nguyen said her boss has listened to thousands of constituents at community events and at his town hall meetings.

“All politicians ‘listen,’” she said. “The difference between Kenneth Mejia and our opponents is who we listen to. Our Office listens to the people of Los Angeles.”

If Mejia secures a majority of the vote in June, he will avoid a November 2026 runoff. Forcing Mejia into a round two will be a tough task for Hall and Sokoloff, said political science professor Fernando Guerra, who runs the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.

Because city controller is a relatively low-profile position and Mejia is an incumbent, voters will likely stick with him unless there’s serious “negative publicity,” Guerra said.

“While he’s quirky, there’s nothing there that’s in any way scandalous,” Guerra added.

Sokoloff is launching his campaign at an opportune time. Television City is the subject of several lawsuits, which have been filed not just by neighborhood groups but also The Grove, the shopping mall developed by businessman and former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso. Those plaintiffs have asked a judge to overturn the council’s approval of the project, saying the city failed to comply with CEQA, the state’s environmental law.

Shelley Wagers, who lives nearby and has been fighting the project, said she was surprised by Sokoloff’s decision to run for citywide office. Asked whether he is in fact good at listening, she replied: “Not in my experience, no.”

Sokoloff defended his company’s handling of the TVC project, pointing to the unanimous votes cast by the planning commission and the council.

“We built a broad and diverse coalition of supporters,” he said. “Ultimately, the results of the [city’s] entitlement process speak for themselves.”

Sokoloff has already picked up one key endorsement: Laura Chick, who was perhaps the most confrontational city controller in recent history. Chick, who served in citywide office from 2001 to 2009, took on officials at the city’s harbor, its airport agency, the city attorney’s office and many others.

Chick, who now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, said L.A. needs a controller who will find strategies to make the city more efficient and effective.

“[Sokoloff] understands that L.A. needs an active problem solver as its chief auditor,” she said.

State of play

— CREATING A RECORD: Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez and an assortment of elected officials, clergy and community activists went to a four-hour hearing this week that focused on the impact — and alleged abuses — of Trump’s immigration crackdown. “We want to establish a record, because when the political winds change, we want to hold those accountable,” Bass said.

— THANKSGIVING TEXTS: Caruso, the real estate developer now weighing a second run for mayor, offered his own message on the immigration raids this week, sending a text message blast asking for donations to help families whose lives have been upended by crackdown.

“As we get ready to sit down with family tomorrow, I’m thinking about the families across our city whose Thanksgiving will look a little different,” Caruso wrote on Wednesday. “Many are afraid to return to work after the recent workplace raids, leaving families short on food, rent, and basic necessities.”

— CONCEPT OF A PLAN: Mayoral candidate Austin Beutner said he supports “the concept” of hiking L.A.’s sales tax by a half-cent to pay for additional firefighters and fire stations. Beutner offered his take a few days after the firefighters union confirmed it is preparing ballot language for the tax, which would raise $9.8 billion by 2050. The union wants voters to take up the measure in November 2026.

— FIRE FUNDING: Even without the tax, Fire Chief Jaime Moore is asking for more than $1 billion for his department’s next annual budget, a 15% hike over the current year. Moore said the additional funds are needed to ensure the city is prepared for emergencies like the Palisades fire.

— DIALING 9-1-1: Sticking with the firefighting theme, Beutner posted an interactive graphic on his website showing how much paramedic response times have increased in most zip codes in the city. Beutner said firefighters are being asked to respond to too many non-emergency calls.

— DELAYED RESPONSE: Residents in neighborhoods near the Port of Los Angeles were not told to shelter in place until nearly six hours after a massive hazardous materials fire broke out aboard a cargo ship in the harbor. The handling of the alert, which urged residents to go inside immediately and shut their doors and windows, follows deep concerns about the region’s alert system and how it worked during the Eaton fire in January.

— KATZ OUT THE BAG: The five-member board that oversees the Department of Water and Power has lost its third commissioner in as many months. Richard Katz, a former state lawmaker and a Bass appointee, had his final meeting on Nov. 18. In his resignation letter, he said he’s stepping aside to focus on two upcoming surgeries.

— LACKING A QUORUM: Because the DWP board needs three members to hold a meeting, it won’t be able to conduct any business until the council confirms the mayor’s newest appointee: Benny Tran, who is slated to replace Mia Lehrer. Tran is a principal with Baobab Global Consulting, according to his nomination paperwork.

— IN HOT WATER: A high-ranking DWP employee has been accused of making staffers run personal errands for her on city time, including purchasing tickets to a Snoop Dogg concert, according to a filing lodged by the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission’s director of enforcement. The employee’s lawyer said the claims were the product of a disgruntled subordinate.

— MONEY TROUBLES: L.A. County’s Department of Homeless Services and Housing faces a $230-million financial gap in the upcoming budget year, setting the stage for cuts to key services. Officials are looking at scaling back an array of programs, including services to help homeless residents find apartments.

— BOLSTERING THE BUDGET: The council’s new Budget and Finance Advisory Committee, a five-member citizen panel looking at ways to strengthen the city’s finances, held its first meeting this week, selecting former City Controller Ron Galperin as its chairman. The committee plans to look at the city’s investment strategies, real estate portfolio, legal obligations and overall approach to annual budgets.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program to combat homelessness did not launch new operations this week.
• On the docket next week: The Charter Reform Commission is set to hold an outdoor town hall Saturday at Echo Park Lake. The event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., will take place on the northeast lawn at Echo Park and Park avenues.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

The Trump administration is promising an even tougher anti-immigration agenda after an Afghan national was charged this week in the shooting of two National Guard members, with new restrictions targeting the tens of thousands of Afghans resettled in the U.S. and those seeking to come, many of whom served alongside American soldiers in the two-decade war.

But those still waiting to come were already facing stricter measures as part of President Trump’s sweeping crackdown on legal and illegal migration that began when he started his second term in January. And the Afghan immigrants living in the U.S. and now in the administration’s crosshairs were among the most extensively vetted, often undergoing years of security screening, experts and advocates say.

In its latest move, the Trump administration announced Friday that it will pause issuing visas for anyone traveling on an Afghan passport.

The suspected shooter, who worked with the CIA during the Afghanistan war, “was vetted both before he landed, probably once he landed, once he applied for asylum,” said Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute. “But more importantly, he was almost certainly vetted extensively and much more by the CIA.”

Haris Tarin, a former U.S. official who worked on the Biden-era program that resettled Afghans, predicted that “as the investigation unfolds, you will see that this is not a failure of screening. This is a failure of us not being able to integrate — not just foreign intelligence and military personnel — but our own veterans, over the past 25 years.”

The program, Operations Allies Welcome, initially brought about 76,000 Afghans to the United States, many of whom had worked alongside American troops and diplomats as interpreters and translators. The initiative was in place for around a year before shifting to a longer-term program called Operation Enduring Welcome. Almost 200,000 Afghans have been resettled in the U.S. under the programs.

Among those brought to the U.S. under the program was the suspected shooter, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who now faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of 20-year-old Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom. The other National Guard member who was shot, 24-year-old Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, remains in critical condition.

Those resettlements are now on hold. The State Department has temporarily stopped issuing visas for all people traveling on Afghan passports, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced late Friday on X.

Anti-immigrant rhetoric

Trump and his allies have seized on the shooting to criticize gaps in the U.S. vetting process and the speed of admissions, even though some Republicans spent the months and years after the 2021 withdrawal criticizing the Biden administration for not moving fast enough to approve some applications from Afghan allies.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said Lakanwal “should have never been allowed to come here.” Trump called lax migration policies “the single greatest national security threat facing our nation,” and Vice President JD Vance said Biden’s policy was “opening the floodgate to unvetted Afghan refugees.”

That rhetoric quickly turned into policy announcements, with Trump saying he would “permanently pause all migration” from a list of nearly 20 countries, “terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions,” and “remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States.” Many of these changes had already been set in motion through a series of executive orders over the last 10 months, including most recently in June.

“They are highlighting practices that were already going into place,” said Andrea Flores, a lawyer who was an immigration policy advisor in the Obama and Biden administrations.

Lakanwal applied for asylum during the Biden administration, but his request was approved in April of this year — under the Trump administration — after undergoing a thorough vetting, according to #AfghanEvac, a group that helps resettle Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the war.

Flores said the system has worked across administrations: “You may hear people say, ‘Well, he was granted asylum under Trump. This is Trump’s problem.’ That’s not how our immigration system works. It relies on the same bedding. No asylum laws have really been changed by Congress.”

Afghans in the U.S. fearful for their status

Trump and other U.S. officials have used the attack to demand a reexamination of everyone who came to the U.S. from Afghanistan, a country he called “a hellhole on Earth” on Thursday.

“These policies were already creating widespread disruption and fear among lawfully admitted families. What’s new and deeply troubling is the attempt to retroactively tie all of this to one act of violence in a way that casts suspicion on entire nationalities, including Afghan allies who risked their lives to protect our troops,” Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, said in a statement Friday.

This has left the nearly 200,000 Afghans living across the U.S. in deep fear and shame over actions attributed to one person. Those in the U.S. are now worrying about their legal status being revoked, while others in the immigration pipeline here and abroad are waiting in limbo.

Nesar, a 22-year-old Afghan who arrived in the U.S. weeks after the fall of Kabul, said he had just begun to assimilate into life in the U.S. when the attack happened Wednesday. He agreed to speak to the Associated Press on condition that only his first name be used for fear of reprisals or targeting by immigration officials.

“Life was finally getting easier for me. I’ve learned to speak English. I found a better job,” he said. “But after this happened two days ago, I honestly went to the grocery store this morning, and I was feeling so uncomfortable among all of those people. I was like, maybe they’re now looking at me the same way as the shooter.”

Two days before the shooting, Nesar and his father, who worked for the Afghan president during the war, had received an interview date of Dec. 13 for their green card application, a moment he said they had been working toward for four years. He says it is now unclear if their application will move forward or whether their interview will take place.

Another Afghan national, who also spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal, said that after fearing for his life under Taliban rule, he felt a sense of peace and hope when he finally received a special immigrant visa to come to the U.S. two years ago.

He said he thought he could use his experience working as a defense attorney in Afghanistan to contribute to American society. But now, he said, he and other Afghans will once again face scrutiny because of the actions of an “extremist who, despite benefiting from the safety and livelihood provided by this country, ungratefully attacked two American soldiers.”

“It seems that whenever a terrorist commits a crime, its shadow falls upon me simply because I am from Afghanistan,” he added.

Cappelletti and Amiri write for the Associated Press. AP writer Renata Brito contributed to this report.

Periodically, the Latinx Files will feature guest writers. Filling in this week is film reporter extraordinaire Carlos Aguilar.

With the explicit goal of making people laugh, the endearingly foul-mouthed Mexican American filmmaker Alejandro Montoya Marin is building an unpretentious body of work.

“There are far smarter people than me to make ‘Parasite’ or to make Yorgos [Lanthimos’] movies,” says Montoya Marin, 42, laughing during a recent video interview from his home in Los Angeles. “I want to entertain you for 88 minutes and have you come out and be like, ‘I’m going to recommend that to a friend.’ That’s it.”

It’s not that he lacks ambition.Montoya Marin, whose T-shirt is emblazoned with Hong Kong action film legend John Woo, feels secure in the type of storytelling that best suits his interest and abilities. And he’s taken a DIY approach to making films and promoting them so that they can reach audiences directly.

“Their job is to tell you no,” he says of decision makers in the entertainment industry. “But you have the ability to say, ‘F— you, I’m going to be creative. You’re not going to tell me when I can be creative.’ And that was always the mentality that I had.”

His third feature, “The Unexpecteds,” now available on streaming platforms, features a mostly Latino cast: Chelsea Rendon (“Vida”), Francisco Ramos (“Gentefied”) and Alejandro De Hoyos (“The Man From Toronto”) — as well as actor Matt Walsh in the lead role. Executive produced by independent cinema legend Kevin Smith of “Clerks” fame, the action comedy follows a group of everyday working people who take justice into their own hands after an online financial guru, Metal Mike (John Kaler), scams them out of their savings.

“I love underdog stories because I feel like I am one and there are so many people like that,” Montoya Marin says about “The Unexpecteds” and his other films. “Maybe there could be movies that can inspire them or make them feel good about themselves for a little bit.”

Born in Laredo, Texas, to parents from Yucatán and Mexico City, Montoya Marin owes his cinematic awakening to a disparate double feature that introduced him to the gritty dystopia of “RoboCop” and the heart-rending sentimentality of “Cinema Paradiso.”

He was about 7 years old and had tagged along with his uncle, who was taking a date to the movies, in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo. “I didn’t understand [“Cinema Paradiso”] because it was in Italian and subtitled in Spanish. My Spanish wasn’t amazing then,” says Montoya Marin. “But I understood a lot of it, and that double feature did it for me.”

And thus, his topsy-turvy, multicity trail to the triumphs and pitfalls of moviemaking began. At 12, Montoya Marin moved from the U.S. to Merida, Yucatán, where he then made his first amateur short film inspired by the “Star Wars” universe.

He later studied marketing in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. To supplement his income during those days, Montoya Marin opened his own video store, which he called Quick Stop Video, in honor of Quick Stop Groceries, the convenience store in Smith’s “Clerks.” One day, an office opened across the street that had a sign that read “Go study in Canada.” Intrigued, Montoya Marin inquired about film schools, and was immediately enticed by Vancouver Film School, mainly because a young Smith had briefly attended there. He sold all his movies and, as an American citizen, got a student loan and moved to Canada.

Though they now have a close relationship, Montoya Marin’s father, a successful businessman, did not initially support his artistic aspirations, which caused conflict.

“My dad would go, ‘Bring those dreams down because the fall will be less hard,’ and I’d go, ‘F— that. Why?’” he recalls. “He told me, ‘If you go there I don’t want to see you. You’re not seeing the family.’ I was like, ‘OK, that’s a risk I have to take.’”

After graduating, Montoya Marin couldn’t afford to live in Los Angeles and instead moved to Albuquerque, N.M., where he worked for 13 years as a production assistant and as a commercial director. During that time, a career-altering opportunity came his way.

While in Europe shooting a project, Montoya Marin finished the screenplay for his first feature, “Monday.” The script earned him a spot in Robert Rodriguez’s reality show “Rebel Without a Crew,” which aired in 2018 on El Rey Network. Each participant had to produce their feature film with a budget of $7,000, the same amount of money Rodriguez made his debut, “El Mariachi,” for.

“It was a dream come true. Robert is very down to earth. You could tell he’s not bulls—. He doesn’t play the game,” he says. “We would be filming at three in the morning, y ahí lo veías trabajando.”

“I was honored to mentor Alejandro as he directed his very first feature film,” Rodriguez said in an email. “He had the true indie filmmaking spirit within him and inspired me right back! He’s a great representation of what audiences desire: authenticity and passion.”

After “Monday,” an action comedy centered on a man down on his luck who gets caught in a cartel war, Montoya Marin raised $60,000 via crowdfunding to make his sophomore effort, “Millennium Bugs,” a Y2K-set tale about two people coming of age as the world anticipates chaos. And while neither of those films had the impact he’d hoped for, that outcome did not deter him in the slightest.

“There’s no Plan B, compadre,” he said, laughing. “That’s why I can firmly just go headfirst because if I die on set, I will be a happy man.”

Montoya Marin met Walsh while shooting Eva Longoria’s “Flamin’ Hot,” where they both had acting parts. A friendship developed between them, and eventually the filmmaker offered Walsh the part in “The Unexpecteds.” Although he shot the film in 15 days, like his previous features, this time he had a more sizable budget (still under $1 million).

As part of its 2024 festival run, “The Unexpecteds” screened at Smith’s Smodcastle Film Festival in New Jersey, where it won the Best Comedy Award. It was there that Montoya Marin first connected with one of his heroes.

“Giving a platform to fledgling filmmakers with the Smodcastle Film Festival is meaningful to an old film fest kid, and if my name can help them open a single door, I’m happy to help,” Smith said. “But being involved with ‘The Unexpecteds’ does me more good than them. Attaching myself to a talent like Alejandro is a sure way to ensure I get to stick around in a business I’m getting too old for.”

The first time Montoya Marin met Smith in person was right before going on a news show where the two were supposed to have a joint interview to promote the film. It was there that Montoya Marin witnessed his hero’s walk-the-walk allyship in action.

Before going on air, the production informed Montoya Marin that they wouldn’t be able to have him do the interview. Only Smith would be on camera. “But to make it up to you guys, we’re going to make this a Hispanic Heritage Month themed segment,” the team told them.

That’s when Smith stepped in. “You’re going to put the white guy to come and promote Hispanic Heritage Month,” he said, according to Montoya Marin. “Kevin goes, ‘That’s stupid. I’m not doing that. Mic him up, because the filmmaker is the best salesman of a film.’” Smith was shocked at what the TV folks had tried to pull. “I told Kevin, ‘You were just witness of what they do to us without saying an insult. It’s just polite,’” Montoya Marin recalls.

Thanks to Smith’s intervention, Montoya Marin ultimately did the interview. “I fell in love with him even more,” he added.

Now that his most ambitious project yet is out in the world, Montoya Marin has multiple projects in the works, from a thriller to a comedy set in the ‘90s, and even a project that would allow him to shoot in Mexico. Like a good salesman, he has perfected his pitch.

“I’m dying to make a movie in Spanish. I already have the concept and some producers. I just need $1.5 million and I will give you one of the best comedies in Mexican cinema,” he declares. “And I’m not saying just to be m—, but I know I’m funnier in Spanish.”

Speaking with Montoya Marin, one gets the sense that he’s consistently trying to disarm you into rooting for him. It’s not manipulative but refreshingly sincere — and a bit brash. Getting behind him is a vote of confidence for independent cinema that doesn’t take itself so seriously. His humorous conviction and rousing spiel make one eager to believe him.

The American Cinematheque will screen “The Unexpecteds” on Dec. 13 at the Los Feliz 3, with Montoya Marin and Smith in attendance.

Stories we read this week that we think you should read

Unless otherwise noted, stories below were published by the Los Angeles Times.

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A FLURRY of new cruise ships have taken to the ocean waves in recent weeks, giving cruise fans even more choice.

From the adult delights of Celebrity’s fifth Edge class ship, Xcel, and Virgin Voyages’ latest Brilliant Lady to the family- friendly fun onboard Star Princess and Disney Destiny, there is plenty to please all ages.

LISA MINOT takes a look at the latest liners to set sail.

CELEBRITY XCEL: I’m just back from a fantastic sailing exploring this lovely new ship and can say it is one of my favourites for adults who love a little bit of luxury in a relaxed setting.

The ship has seven reimagined spaces onboard.

Bazaar is a new multi-level space that transforms depending on the ship’s destinations.

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While in the Caribbean, you can expect entertainment, food and crafts inspired by the tropical islands.

When it moves to the Mediterranean in summer 2026 it will reflect the European ports of call.

I loved the new Bora restaurant on the top deck beside the Roof Garden and the retro games in The Attic.

The main pool has had a real upgrade and keep an eye out for the PhotoBooth — it promises a lot more than just a selfie!

See celebritycruises.com.

VIRGIN BRILLIANT LADY: Virgin Voyages’ fourth ship set sail this autumn, adding to the line’s signature adult-only sophisticated cruises for party people.

The 2,770-passenger ship has had some enhancements over its siblings, including a larger pool and the new Roundabout enlarged atrium.

The ship is also the first in the fleet capable of transiting the Panama Canal, with some new cabin types having smaller balconies to accommodate it.

Other highlights include brand new shows, a new supper club with an interactive dinner-and-a-show experience and retro karaoke lounge with private booths.

See virginvoyages.com.

DISNEY DESTINY: Spider-Man swings off the side of Disney Cruise Line’s latest luxury liner — and that’s just the start of the fun onboard this family-friendly ship.

The 4,000-passenger vessel is the seventh in the fleet and the first to feature a new theme, with exclusive encounters with a host of Disney’s favourite heroes and villains and unique entertainment not found on its other ships.

In a departure from its previous cruise ships, the theming is more immersive, with a Marvel-inspired Grand Hall, new restaurant Pride Lands: Feast Of The Lion King — promising dinner and a show — and a new Broadway-style Hercules show.

There’s a new bar based on the Haunted Mansion theme park attraction, too.

See disneycruise.disney.go.com.

STAR PRINCESS: The second of Princess Cruises’ Sphere-class ships, Star Princess builds on the success of Sun Princess.

The 4,000-passenger liner features an expanded O’Malley’s Irish Pub, one of my favourite venues onboard the ship.

There’s more than 30 dining and drinking options, including a new expanded speciality dining restaurant Love By Britto.

The top deck features a new multi-sport court with facilities for pickleball and basketball as well as a splash pad.

New shows include the circus-themed Illuminate! and love story Meridian, both taking full advantage of the theatre’s in-the-round staging.

And the popular Dome entertainment venue, which transforms from day to night, plus the multi-level Piazza are both returning favourites.

See princess.com.

Before the sci-fi series “Stranger Things” premiered on Netflix, several traditional studios had already passed on it. Its creators were first-time show runners, unknown young actors were cast in lead roles, and even though the show starred kids, it was not for children.

That was nine years ago.

The 1980s-set show about a monster that wreaks havoc on fictional Hawkins, Ind., hit a chord with Netflix’s global subscribers. “Stranger Things” has since become one of the streamer’s most culturally significant shows, with its fourth season garnering 140.7 million views in its first three months and ranking third among its top English-language series. It was instrumental in growing new branches of business for Netflix, including live events, a Broadway production and inspired brands eager to partner on licensed merchandise. It became a major franchise for the platform, a chance to build a universe around its central characters and create its own version of “Star Wars.”

Rayna Lynn Chacon, 26, from Los Angeles dresses as Eleven from “Stranger Things” during the Netflix x CicLAvia event.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

The show helped build Netflix’s reputation as a place that makes big bets on original ideas and, if it’s a hit, can build a large fandom for such programs with its worldwide subscriber base.

Netflix took a chance on show runner brothers Matt and Ross Duffer. The pair never imagined the series, which held its first premiere in Silver Lake at Mack Sennett Studios, would take off the way it did.

That wasn’t lost on Matt Duffer, who stood on stage at the final season premiere inside the historic TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood earlier this month. It was the same place “Star Wars” premiered in 1977.

“For me, as a nerd, this is a dream come true,” Duffer told the audience.

In an interview, Bela Bajaria, the chief content officer at Netflix, lauded the success of the series: “You could take a bet on an original story, and grow it to a major franchise that has massive global appeal.”

Other Netflix shows, like “House of Cards,” have certainly captured the zeitgeist before, but co-CEO Ted Sarandos said he believes “Stranger Things” stands above some previous hits.

“This was a lot closer to a ‘Star Wars’ moment,” Sarandos said speaking on stage at the “Stranger Things” final season premiere in Hollywood earlier this month. “This is a show, and these are characters that move the culture, that spawned live events and consumer products and spinoffs and sequels … Everything from the first episode of the first season to ‘The First Shadow,’ the Broadway show, the origin story of the Upside Down, it has been and continues to be a remarkable addition to entertainment culture.”

The four past seasons of “Stranger Things” made it into Netflix’s Top 10 this past week, Netflix said. From 2020 to the second quarter of 2025, “Stranger Things” earned more than $1 billion in global streaming revenue for Netflix and was responsible for more than 2 million new subscriber acquisitions, according to estimates from Parrot Analytics, which tracks streaming data. Netflix declined to comment on Parrot’s estimates.

“Every single streaming service needs that anchor series that drives customer acquisition and helps define the original programming,” said Brandon Katz, director of insights and content strategy at Greenlight Analytics, adding for Hulu it was “The Handmaid’s Tale” and for Disney+, “The Mandalorian.” “’Stranger Things’ has undoubtedly been that for Netflix. Every few years that it does air, Netflix knows there is a guaranteed high ceiling of acquisition, retention and viewership power,” Katz said.

Participants bike past a Demogorgon sleigh during the Netflix x CicLAvia event.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

“Stranger Things” also helped Netflix expand into licensed goods, with brands eager to partner with the platform. There are themed Eggo breakfast foods, Lego sets and clothing.

The series “has been a catalyst for Netflix to explore all of the ways in which a single entertainment property can be turned into an entire global lifestyle,” said Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University.

Its popularity has helped other creative collaborators as well.

Artists whose songs were featured on the show climbed the charts. Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” was featured in Season 4 and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 and No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, 37 years after its original release, Netflix said. Metallica’s 1986 song “Master of Puppets” also broke the U.K. Top 30 for the first time after it played during the Season 4 finale, the streamer added.

The series has been recognized with more than 65 awards and 175 nominations. Netflix estimates “Stranger Things” has helped create 8,000 production-related jobs in the U.S. over its five seasons and, since 2015, contributed more than $1.4 billion to U.S. GDP. In California, Netflix estimates the series contributed more than $500 million of GDP.

Netflix is doing a large marketing push with fan events in 28 cities and 21 countries as the series draws to a close. On Sunday, the streamer hosted a bike ride on a stretch of Melrose Avenue in partnership with CicLAvia where 50,000 fans were encouraged to dress in ’80s attire, or as a “Stranger Things” character. On Thursday, a “Stranger Things” float appeared in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

The company began a phased release of the final season with four episodes that debuted Wednesday. Another three episodes will land on Christmas Day and a two-hour finale Dec. 31 on Netflix. The finale will also play in more than 350 movie theaters in the U.S. and Canada on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

“Stranger Things” fans Kelly Audrain and Jason Serstock said they have been rewatching the show from the beginning to refresh their memories on the whole tale, and were still on Season 2 as of earlier this month. The couple attended the premiere of the last season in Hollywood.

“The whole costuming and everything was so perfect that you just feel like you’re taken back to the ’80s,” 29-year-old Audrain said, who was dressed as “Stranger Things” character Eleven in a pink dress and sporting a mock bloody nose.

Lilia Lupercio, 53, left, Audrey Haluska, 15, center, and Janet Lupercio, 45, right, from Downey pose for a photograph with a “Stranger Things” backdrop.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

Netflix is expanding the show’s universe with the animated series “Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85” next year. In April, Netflix’s “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” stage play hit Broadway. The company has also opened “Stranger Things” pop-up stores, held live experiences and will feature immersive experiences at its Netflix House locations, including “Stranger Things: Escape the Dark” in Dallas. In Las Vegas, Netflix will offer themed foods like Surfer Boy Pizza at its Netflix Bites restaurant.

The Duffers recently told Deadline a spinoff is in the works at Netflix. Bajaria declined to share anything about that but said, “I think the world is really rich and there’s still a lot of story in there.”

But there are challenges ahead. Netflix, seen as the leader in subscription streaming, has had two major flagship series end this year — “Stranger Things” and Korean-language drama “Squid Game.” Analysts say the company will need to keep pumping out popular shows and movies to keep subscribers coming back.

Netflix has successfully expanded its “Squid Game” franchise to include reality competition series “Squid Game: The Challenge,” where more than 95% of watchers also tuned into the scripted series. Other popular franchises like Addams family series “Wednesday,” pirates tale “One Piece” and Regency-era romance “Bridgerton” are ongoing. Netflix’s hit animated movie “KPop Demon Hunters” will get a sequel.

Separately, Netflix placed a bid on parts of Warner Bros. Discovery, with interest in Warner’s Burbank studios and HBO, according to people familiar with the matter. If the acquisition is successful, it would greatly expand Netflix’s library of titles and intellectual property.

While the Duffer brothers still have projects with Netflix, they recently signed a four-year exclusive deal with Paramount for feature films, TV and streaming projects. Some industry observers viewed that as a loss for Netflix.

Omar Chavez, 42, left, and Jenna Chavez, 28, right, from West Hollywood walk past a poster during the Netflix x CicLAvia event.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

“The Duffers are so young, and they’re just really beginning their journey,” said Tom Nunan, a former studio and network executive. “I have no doubt they’ll be pushing out more hits and more of a variety of successes in the future,” he said, adding that the brothers’ work at Paramount could compete with Netflix.

But Bajaria noted that the Duffers still have some projects in the works at Netflix, including sci-fi series “The Boroughs” and horror series “Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen.”

“They’re always gonna be part of the Netflix family and I’m excited we still have more things with them,” Bajaria said.

Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this article.

Rams defensive end Kobie Turner, a 294-pound man strong enough to carry a piano on his back, can also tap out a tune.

The country saw that Sunday night when, on two occasions, NBC aired video footage of Turner expertly playing a complex version of the “Sunday Night Football” theme song. He learned it by ear, then set up his phone to capture the clip.

The song was written by legendary composer John Williams and originally was called “Wide Receiver,” although NBC never adopted that name.

“He listened to it a couple of times and was able to play it and add his own flair,” NBC coordinating producer Rob Hyland said of Turner, who majored in music theory and composition at University of Richmond.

“I was completely blown away. Kobie has so much talent on the football field and just as much with musical instruments. His nickname, `The Conductor,’ is very fitting.”

Turner had two sacks in the 34-7 trouncing of Tampa Bay. He was instrumental in the Rams assembling their best defensive performance of the year, giving up 70 yards passing and 193 total.

The idea to show Turner’s musical talents was hatched earlier this year, and for “Thursday Night Football” on Amazon Prime. There’s a lot of crossover between those two production crews.

Reid Esocoff, whose father, Drew, directs the Sunday night show, pitched the idea to Prime to have Turner play that song for the Oct. 2 game against San Francisco. The segment got the green light, and Amazon sent the Rams star the sheet music.

“It was like five minutes long,” Turner recalled. “I was like, OK, I’m going to have to rearrange this. There’s like trumpets and strings, and I’m like, ‘I’m only doing piano.’”

Turner did his part, but the video wound up on the cutting-room floor.

Enter NBC, which made the same ask and ensured the Rams it would air the video. This time, Turner didn’t want the sheet music, just a recording of the familiar theme song.

“I picked it up by ear and I rearranged it too,” he said, “Because it was another three-minute-long song.’ I was like, how can I emulate this with just the keys and me in a solo take? It was a lot of fun.”

He nailed it, and the video ran twice, when NBC was going to a commercial and after Turner made a big play.

“Anytime I can learn something new, and anytime I can flex the music muscle it’s a lot of fun,” he said.

After playing the song — on his first take, mind you — Turner paused, then popped up and did a strongman flex in triumph.

Tackled it.

William Shakespeare wouldn’t be wowed by this domestic drama about his home life back in Stratford-upon-Avon. Where’s the action? The wit? The wordplay?

The great playwright’s skill is hard to match. Instead, “Hamnet,” directed by Oscar winner Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”), uses our curiosity about the Bard to spin a soggy story about love and grief with enough tears to flood the river Thames. Co-written by Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell, this tonally faithful adaptation of O’Farrell’s florid 2020 novel of the same name stars Paul Mescal as Will — the name he goes by here — and Jessie Buckley as his wife, Agnes, pronounced Ahn-yes, although the real person was more commonly called Anne Hathaway. The 16th century’s fondness for treating Agnes/Anne and Hamnet/Hamlet as interchangeable versions of the same name is part of the plot and must be endured.

The tale is set during the years that Will launched his career in London, missed being at the deathbed of one of his children and funneled his guilt and sorrow into theater’s most prestigious ghost story. Mostly, however, we’re stuck at home with Agnes, who spends half the film weeping.

“There are many different ways to cry,” wrote O’Farrell, whose book goes on to list several variations. (The novel is overripe with descriptors, rarely using one word when a paragraph will do.) Buckley’s wet and wild performance shows us each of them — “the sudden outpouring of tears, the deep racking sobs, the soundless and endless leaking of water from the eyes’’ — plus a few others I’ll call the disgorged caterwaul, the furious scrunch and the chuckle swallowed into a choke. “Hamnet” is my least favorite of Buckley’s showcase roles (I loved “The Lost Daughter”), but the dampness of it has pundits wagering she’ll finally get her Academy Award.

Christopher Marlowe truthers aside, William Shakespeare was an actual person who, historical records concur, married a pregnant woman eight years his senior and had three kids: Susanna, the eldest, and twins Judith and Hamnet. (They’re played, respectively, by Bodhi Rae Breathnach, Olivia Lynes and Jacobi Jupe.) Nearly everything else ever written about the family is conjecture spun from the scraps of information that exist, such as Shakespeare’s will leaving nothing to his wife other than “his second-best bed.”

Previous fictions have deemed Agnes a cradle robber or a shrew or the Bard’s secret co-writer. Zhao’s script goes one further: This Agnes is a witch. Not merely in the slanderous meaning, as in a difficult woman (although she’s also that). Buckley’s Agnes is actually magic. She can predict someone’s destiny by squeezing their hand, the party trick Christopher Walken did in “The Dead Zone.” Sometimes she’s wrong, sometimes she fights fate with everything she’s got, yet her faith in her foresight is rarely shaken. Her husband, who would later write witches and sorcerers and soothsayers into “Macbeth,” “The Tempest” and “Julius Caesar,” is taxed by her psychic gifts. He grumbles that it’s hard to open up to someone who can already “divine your secrets at a glance.”

Her ability to see through time and space has somehow made Agnes transparent too. Joy, confusion, fascination and despair take over her entire face instantaneously, turning Buckley’s performance into an acting exercise of being raw and present. (The crooked smile that signifies her unvarnished realness gets wearying.) The plotting doesn’t have any subterranean levels either, trusting solely in its primal display of sweat, hormones and heartbreak. This period piece almost seems to believe Agnes is inventing each emotion.

Will, a tutor, is trapped inside teaching Latin the first time he spots his future bride romping around in the grass with a hawk on her arm. Cinematographer Łukasz Żal frames the scene in a pane of window glass so that Agnes’ reflection ripples across Will’s yearning face, contrasting the earthy enchantress with the indoor bookworm. These oddballs have little in common besides their defiance of village norms and their families’ mutual disapproval. “I’d rather you went to sea than marry this wench,” Will’s mother, Mary (Emily Watson), hisses. (Her gradual thaw is genuinely affecting.)

Meanwhile, Agnes’ most supportive sibling, a farmer named Bartholomew (Joe Alwyn), can’t fathom what Will has to offer. “Why marry a pasty-faced scholar?” he asks. “What use is he?”

Their flirtation — especially Mescal’s dumb, happy, horny grin — makes Shakespeare feel freshly relatable. Perhaps his Ye Olde Tinder profile read: “Aspiring playwright seeks older woman, pagan preferred.” At times in “Hamnet,” 1582, the year of their marriage, could pass for a millennium earlier, a rustic era where neither has anything more pressing to do than canoodle under the trees. Later on, their partnership feels more contemporary, a frustrated writer hitting the bottle while his missus supports but doesn’t understand his work.

That the greatest dramatist of the last 500 years is married to someone wholly incurious about his art is, in itself, a tragedy. There’s a scene in which you wonder not only if has Agnes never seen one of his plays, but if she even knows what a play is. Our credulity would snap if Mescal’s Shakespeare was the slick talker that his early biographer John Aubrey described as “very good company, of a very redie and pleasant smoothe Witt.” But this stammering, rather dull chap doesn’t come across as a genius. He must save it all for his quill.

This isn’t Mescal’s fault. The book’s version of him is pretty much the same, perhaps because O’Farrell doesn’t reveal that this fictional grieving character is Shakespeare until the last page. (Although the title is a gimmicky clue.) At least Zhao adds scenes that show him workshopping his material. The kids prance around the yard quoting “Macbeth” a decade before he’ll stage it and Mescal gets to recite a “Hamlet” soliloquy as a little treat. I enjoyed the unremarked-upon tension of Will returning home from London with a hip haircut and an earring.

The texture of the film is impressive. Żal’s camera swivels around their home, soaking it in like a documentary. Whenever the film goes outside, he and Zhao make you feel the mystical power of the dirt and leaves. The forest rumbles with so much energy that it sounds like living next to a freeway. To keep things feeling authentic, co-editors Affonso Gonçalves and Zhao keep in flukes that other filmmakers might consider flubs, like an insect dive-bombing one of the actor’s eyelashes. The spell of “Hamnet’s” naturalism rarely breaks, save for a couple nice flourishes, like a shadow puppet depiction of the plague and a shot of the underworld as seen through a black lace curtain, a literalization of going beyond the veil.

Meanwhile, the score by the talented Max Richter is made of soft, pleasant little piano plinks and one major if beautiful mistake: a climactic needle-drop of his 2004 masterpiece “On the Nature of Daylight.” That soul-stirring number is one of the loveliest compositions of the modern era, so good at making an audience sigh that it’s been used two dozen times already, including in “Arrival,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Shutter Island” and “The Last of Us.” As soon those violins kick up here, you’re shoved out of the 16th century and feel less moved than shamelessly manipulated.

“Hamnet’s” sweetest note is 12-year-old Jacobi Jupe playing the actual Hamnet. The script hangs on our immediate devotion to the boy and he stands up to the challenge. Unlike most child actors — and unlike his on-screen parents — he never overplays his big scenes. His stoicism is wrenching. Also terrific is his real-life older brother, Noah Jupe, as the play-within-a-film’s onstage Hamlet. In a rehearsal, this young actor seems dreadful. Zhao has him whiff it so that Mescal can say the lines again, louder. But on the play’s opening night, he’s a sensation.

Shakespeare didn’t invent “Hamlet” from whole cloth. He adapted it from a Norse yarn that had been around for centuries, and Lord knows if he was more inspired by his own child or by another successful version of “Hamlet” that played London a decade before. In our century, it’s been reworked for the screen more than 50 times, and mouthed by everyone from Ethan Hawke and Danny Devito to Shelley Long.

Yet I would have been happy watching the older Jupe do the whole thing again for this lively Globe Theatre crowd, the first to discover how Shakespeare’s version will end. As this Hamlet collapses, the audience reaches their arms toward the fallen prince. The actor draws strength from the groundlings and they, in turn, find solace in his pain. That stunning image alone single-handedly captures everything this movie has struggled to say (or sob) about the catharsis of art.

A gauge of risk on Oracle Corp.’s debt reached a three-year high in November, and things are only going to get worse in 2026 unless the database giant is able to assuage investor anxiety about a massive artificial intelligence spending spree, according to Morgan Stanley.

A funding gap, swelling balance sheet and obsolescence risk are just some of the hazards Oracle is facing, according to Lindsay Tyler and David Hamburger, credit analysts at the brokerage. The cost of insuring Oracle Corp.’s debt against default over the next five years rose to 1.25 percentage point a year on Tuesday, according to ICE Data Services.

The price on the five-year credit default swaps is at risk of toppling a record set in 2008 as concerns over the company’s borrowing binge to finance its AI ambitions continue to spur heavy hedging by banks and investors, they warned in a note Wednesday.

The CDS could break through 1.5 percentage point in the near term and could approach 2 percentage points if communication around its financing strategy remains limited as the new year progresses, the analysts wrote. Oracle CDS hit a record 1.98 percentage point in 2008, ICE Data Services shows.

A representative for Oracle declined to comment.

Oracle is among firms taking part in an artificial intelligence spending race, which has quickly made the data center giant the credit market’s barometer for AI risk. The company borrowed $18 billion in the US high-grade market in September. Then in early November, a group of about 20 banks arranged a roughly $18 billion project finance loan to construct a data center campus in New Mexico, which Oracle will take over as tenant.

Banks are also providing a separate $38 billion loan package to help finance the construction of data centers in Texas and Wisconsin developed by Vantage Data Centers, Bloomberg reported last month. Lenders involved in these construction loans linked to Oracle are likely a key driver of the surge in trading volume on the Oracle’s CDS recently, a trend that may persist, according to Morgan Stanley.

“Over the past two months, it has become more apparent that reported construction loans in the works, for sites where Oracle is the future tenant, may be an even greater driver of hedging of late and going forward,” wrote the analysts.

There is a risk that some hedges by banks could unwind if and when banks distribute these loans to other parties, they wrote. Still, other parties may also hedge at some point even if down the road plus the construction debt funding needs don’t stop after the Vantage sites and the New Mexico site.

Last month, the analysts said they expect near-term credit deterioration and uncertainty to drive further hedging by bondholders, lenders and thematic players.

“The bondholder hedging dynamic and also the thematic hedging dynamic could both grow in importance down the road,” they added.

Oracle CDS have underperformed the broader investment-grade CDX index and Oracle corporate bonds have underperformed the Bloomberg high-grade index amid the jump in hedging demand and the weakening sentiment. Concerns have also started to weigh on Oracle’s stock, which the analysts said may incentivize management to outline a financing plan on the upcoming earnings call, including details on Stargate, data centers and capital spending.

The analysts had previously been recommending investors buy Oracle bonds and CDS in what is known as a basis trade, to profit from their expectation that credit derivatives would widen more than the bonds. Now they’re saying it’s a cleaner trade to just buy the CDS outright.

“Therefore, we are closing the ‘buy bond’ part of the basis trade, and keeping the ‘buy CDS protection’ leg of it,” they wrote. “We think a trade in CDS outright is cleaner right now and will result in a greater spread move.”

Larry Ellison, Oracle’s chairman of the board, is backing his son David Ellison’s bid to acquire Warner Bros Discovery, which is also considering offers from Netflix and Comcast.

Mutua writes for Bloomberg.

“Wow!”

The performance needed no evaluation beyond the exclamation. Kurt Suzuki bounded out of the visiting clubhouse at Angel Stadium to catch up with his friend.

In 2009, in the first start of his first full major league season, the Angels’ pitcher threw six shutout innings against Suzuki and the Oakland Athletics. On Team USA, Suzuki had been his catcher.

Suzuki congratulated the pitcher, shared the exclamation and — because this is what friends do — gave him a hard time.

Before the sun rose, Nick Adenhart was dead. He was 22.

“I woke up the next morning to 10 text messages you don’t want to hear,” Suzuki said.

A drunk driver had blown through a red light and into a minivan full of friends. He killed three of them, including Adenhart. One survived: Jon Wilhite, who played baseball at Cal State Fullerton with Suzuki.

Sixteen years later, a forever bond endures between Wilhite and Suzuki. When the Angels introduced Suzuki as their new manager last month, Wilhite was in the audience.

Their friendship is compelling. Their story is poignant. We’ll get to it, but first Suzuki ribs Wilhite for wearing long pants on a sunny autumn day in Manhattan Beach. Suzuki is wearing shorts and flip-flops.

“We’re by the beach, dude,” Suzuki laughs.

Suzuki eggs on Wilhite: Tell the story about the white suit.

In 2004, Fullerton won the College World Series, with Suzuki as the All-America catcher and Wilhite as a redshirt catcher. In 2005, the Titans visited the White House.

“I didn’t own a suit,” Wilhite said. “I went to the Men’s Wearhouse in Hawthorne, just by myself, and this guy sold me on a white suit.”

New Angels manager Kurt Suzuki, left, and general manager Perry Minasian speak to reporters at Angel Stadium last month. Jon Wilhite was in the audience.

(Greg Beacham / Associated Press)

On the day of the White House visit, his teammates thought the white suit was a joke. Dear reader, it was not.

Wilhite stood in line with his teammates, waiting to meet President George W. Bush. As the president shook Wilhite’s hand, he took a look at the suit and deadpanned: “Bold move, son.”

Fullerton has won four College World Series championships, more than any other school besides USC, Louisiana State, Texas and Arizona State — elite by any standard, but frankly amazing given the Titans’ status as a financially challenged athletic program at a commuter school. The players believed in themselves, because they could not count on anyone else to believe in them.

“It was like a brotherhood,” Suzuki said.

That drunk driver very nearly killed Wilhite, too. You can get chills just by saying out loud the medical term for what happened to him: internal decapitation.

UC Irvine surgeons put his skull back atop his spine. At the time, UCI reported, only four other people were known to have recovered from that injury.

Wilhite was in the hospital for weeks, in rehabilitation for months. Suzuki, then in his second full major league season, raised more than $50,000 for Wilhite’s recovery fund by tapping veterans for baseball memorabilia that could be sold or auctioned.

“Luckily, with the money raised, I was able to take a year and get myself physically as good as I could be,” Wilhite said, “before I went back to work.”

That money was not the most valuable contribution Suzuki made toward Wilhite’s healing.

When Wilhite finished his rehabilitation program, Suzuki was back in Southern California, in the midst of offseason workouts.

Hey, he told Wilhite, come work out with me.

“This is a guy that’s a professional athlete getting ready for his next year,” Wilhite said, “and I was struggling to walk.

“I showed up every single day, and I got stronger. That’s when I really made strides. I wasn’t just a patient. I felt like an athlete again.”

Even in those worst of times, Suzuki was not above ribbing Wilhite. For both of them, it felt, well, normal.

“He was still getting his balance back,” Suzuki said. “I’m like, come on dude, don’t go falling on me or everybody’s going to be looking at us!”

Suzuki could have made a modest donation to Wilhite’s recovery fund. That would have been a lovely gesture.

Angels manager Kurt Suzuki, left, and Jon Wilhite were teammates at Cal State Fullerton. “Would you just write your family member a check? No, you’re going to be there for him,” Suzuki said of how he’s supported Wilhite since the accident.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

For Suzuki, that would not have been enough. The Titans were family, and to this day he remembers that Wilhite’s father attended practice just about every day, sitting in the front row, wearing that trademark white bucket hat.

“Would you just write your family member a check?” Suzuki said. “No, you’re going to be there for him.”

The Angels honor their best pitcher each year with the Nick Adenhart Award. Suzuki can present it now, and share his memories of Adenhart. Perhaps Wilhite could join Suzuki.

If he were to do that, he would want to make sure to share his memories of the other victims, too: Courtney Stewart, 20, a Fullerton classmate he described as smart, fun, and not at all scared to tease her ballplayer friends about their play; and Henry Pearson, 25, a law student and aspiring sports agent who Wilhite said never took a moment for granted.

We met at Marine Park in Manhattan Beach, where Pearson and Wilhite played youth baseball, and where a memorial reads: “On April 9, 2009, Henry Pearson, Courtney Stewart and Nick Adenhart were killed by a drunk driver. Jon Wilhite miraculously survived and recovered. They remain an inspiration to us all.”

Some days more than others, Wilhite feels the miracle of survival, of prayer, of modern medicine. I asked him how he explains what happened to people who don’t already know.

“I usually don’t like to drop that bomb on people,” he said. “I usually try to be vague.”

He knows he is the lucky one. He tries to remember that every day, but his mind never drifts far from the others.

“Three of the best people I know lost their life for a senseless act,” he said, “people with such promise.”

Thanksgiving is upon us, so I asked Wilhite if anything came out of this horrific tragedy for which he can be thankful.

He paused. The grief might never fully pass. He was not about to force an answer.

But, after a minute or so, he talked of the relationships he had built with the families of Adenhart, Pearson and Stewart, and the baseball community that supported him, and the close friends who stepped up to help him in his time of need.

“Like Kurt,” he said.

Nov. 27 (UPI) — The federal government will not participate in this year’s World AIDS Day, a decades-old event to mourn people who’ve died from the disease and raise awareness.

The State Department has directed employees and grant recipients not to use federal funding to commemorate the day, The New York Times reported Wednesday. While employees can still highlight their work on AIDS and other diseases, they should “refrain from publicly promoting World AIDS Day” in public-facing messaging, the Times reported.

“An awareness day is not a strategy,” Tommy Pigott, a spokesman for the department, told the paper. “Under the leadership of President Trump, the State Department is working directly with foreign governments to save lives and increase their responsibility and burden sharing.”

However, the Trump White House has issued other proclamations for commemorative days intended to raise awareness about autism, organ donation, cancer and others.

World AIDS Day has been observed every Dec. 1 since 1988. President Bill Clinton became the first U.S. head of state in 1993 to issue a proclamation on the deadly immune-deficiency disease.

The Trump administration froze foreign aid spending earlier this year. With the approval of Congress, it later slashed about $7.9 billion in international humanitarian aid programs. However, the cuts left funding intact programs that combat HIV and AIDS, as well as other infectious diseases.

An estimated 40.8 million people were living with HIV, the precursor to AIDS, worldwide in 2024, according to the World Health Organization. An estimated 1.3 million people acquired HIV last year.

However, the United Nations’ program on AIDS warned on Tuesday of international funding cuts and a waning resolve to address the virus.

A report from the U.N. program noted that some funding has been restored for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, an initiative started under George W. Bush that is credited with saving more than 25 million lives. However, the report stated that “service disruptions associated with these and other funding cuts are having long-lasting effects on almost all areas of the HIV response.”

“The funding crisis has exposed the fragility of the progress we fought so hard to achieve,” Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, said in a statement. “Behind every data point in this report are people-babies and children missed for HIV screening or early HIV diagnosis, young women cut off from prevention support, and communities suddenly left without services and care. We cannot abandon them.”

IF you’re searching for quick, easy and affordable flights for your holiday next year – then check out easyJet’s new routes.

The budget airline has added a whopping 16 new flights to its roster including beautiful islands as well as places within the British Isles – including one that’s been compared to the Caribbean.

Cape Verde

Cape Verde is made up of 10 islands and the best news for Brits is that these sunny spots are just five hours from the UK.

The islands are known for having great winter high temperatures with beautiful beaches and plenty to do – plus there’s only a one hour time difference.

easyJet launched their first-ever flights from the UK to Sal back in April, with routes from London Gatwick and Manchester.

Now, the budget airline has since confirmed that another flight route will be launching to Sal, from Bristol Airport.

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Flights will take off from 1 May 2026 and operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Bari, Italy

Another new route from easyJet will offer new routes from Bristol to Bari.

The port city on the Adriatic Sea coast of southern Italy – the Pugliese capital has even been nicknamed the ‘Jewel of the Adriatic‘.

You can delve into the city’s history in Bari Vecchia which is the historical centre where you’ll find a maze of narrow alleyways, open piazzas, and cobbled side streets.

For sightseeing, you’ll find 40 churches in Bari – but one of the most popular is Basilica di San Nicola. It was originally constructed to hold the remains of Father Christmas, which were stolen from Turkey in the 11th century.

Flights start from April 18, 2026 twice-weekly on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Seville

If you fancy a trip to Spain’s fourth-largest city of Seville – easyJet has added more flights to its roster.

Anyone living in and around Bristol can rejoice as the new route will launch from the airport next spring.

Top sites include the Royal Alcázar of Seville, Seville Cathedral and Plaza de España which is a cobbled square with four bridges over its small river.

easyJet is launching a new route from Bristol to Seville from May 2, 2026 – it will operate twice-weekly on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Inverness

It might be less exotic but easyJet is also starting a new route between Birmingham and the Highlands’ capital city of Inverness.

It’s surrounded by water as it’s the city where the River Ness meets the Moray Firth – and there are plenty of great sites like the cathedral and Old High Church.

There’s also the indoor Victorian Market where you can pick up food, clothes and crafts.

The new service starts on March 30, 2026, operating twice weekly on Mondays and Fridays.

Nice

If the delightful Mediterranean coast calls to you then head to the French city of Nice.

Here you can stroll along vibrant the city’s cobbled streets, check out the art-deco architecture and ornate 19th-century properties that rival Paris.

Nice is also a great spot if you want to explore the likes of Monaco, Antibes and Cannes.

The main boulevard of Promenade des Anglais holds a classic French market on a Saturday where you can buy flowers, goats’ cheese, cured meats, cakes and grab a souvenir like lavender soap.

Flights from Birmingham start from May 1, 2026, which operates twice weekly on Mondays and Fridays.

Montpellier

Very near the Mediterranean coast of southern France is the city of Montpellier.

It’s filled with grand buildings that are a mix of medieval and modern architecture – in the summer it can reach highs of 28C.

While Montpellier isn’t directly on the coast, you don’t have to travel far to find pretty beaches like Carnon, La Grande Motte, GrandsTravers, and Palavas-les-Flots.

Not to mention that just outside of Montpellier, Domaine de Massereau was named the most eco-responsible campsite in Europe last year.

It has plenty to entertain the kids like the Aquatic area which heated swimming pool and one that’s for adults-only with whirlpools and water jets.

For little ones, there’s a spray park, waterslides and a paddling pool as well as two on-site kids’ clubs.

The airline is launching new flights to Montpellier from Manchester on 30 March 2026.

Preveza

On the west side of Greece is the city of Preveza which is the capital of the Epirus region.

The region itself is known for its incredible mountain landscape, as well as pretty beaches.

It’s home to Vikos Gorge, one of the world’s deepest, and clean rivers where locals and tourists like to go kayaking, rafting, and canoeing.

In Preveza you can explore sites like the Nicopolis Museum and Pantocrator Castle or relax on the long, sandy Monolithi Beach.

If you fancy checking out some other places too then you can head to other destinations like Parga, Lefkada and Sivota easily from Preveza.

Flights to Preveza from Manchester start on June 24, 2026.

Lisbon

The capital of Portugal has always been a solid choice of holiday for Brits.

With a flight time under three hours and plenty to do from riding the iconic trams up the hilly roads, to hiking up to Castelo de São Jorge – Lisbon is a solid choice.

And there are plenty of viewing points to see the incredible views across the city like Miradouro de Santa Luzia.

There are two new routes to Lisbon, the first is from Manchester with flights departing from March 31, 2026.

The other route is from Glasgow which will provide direct links to Lisbon from March 29, 2026

Paphos

Last year, Paphos in Cyprus was been voted the most liveable small city in the world.

When one writer visited the seaside spot, she made sure to check out the delicious seafood, and headed out to sea on a boat trip to the Blue Lagoon.

She also said that “the Unesco World Heritage site of Kato Pafos really is a must-see. The park includes sites and monuments from the 4th century BC to the Middle Ages”.

Paphos is a great option for summer if what you like is the heat as it has highs of 30C in July and August.

Or even during the cooler months like November where you can still have average highs of 22C.

You’ll be able to fly from Manchester to Paphos from August 2, 2026.

Jersey

Another short journey that’s easy to make is to Jersey – the British Isle that gets summer weather before the mainland.

The Channel Island has even compared to the Caribbean and its one of the warmest places in spring.

It even has some of the country’s best beaches – and you can get there in under an hour.

easyJet will start its route from Southend Airport to Jersey from March 30, 2026.

Paris

Another new route is from Stansted to Paris – the capital of France is known for its great food and plenty of iconic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower.

It’s also home to the theme park, Disneyland Paris, which is set to open its new Frozen land on March 29, 2026.

There will be new rides, frosty mountain peaks and you can see it all from inside a miniature Arendelle.

Find out more from The Sun’s Assistant Travel Editor Sophie Swietochowski who got an exclusive peek at the new land.

Flights from London Stansted to Paris will start on March 5, 2026

Tenerife

Tenerife is well known for its year-round sunshine, beautiful beaches, amazing stargazing opportunities, and lively nightlife.

For years its been a popular place for Brits to visit, particularly those looking for some winter sun.

It’s good news for those who are fans of the island as Ryanair recently announced it would be cutting flights due to rising tax.

Flights from Newcastle to Tenerife will start on August 1, 2026.

Pisa

The city of Pisa in the Tuscan region of Italy is of course best known for its Leaning Tower which is a must-see when visiting.

But there are lots of other positives too like exploring the beautiful cobbled streets and tasting fantastic food from pizza to cecina (a savory chickpea flour pancake) and Torta co’ Bischeri (a chocolate-filled pastry).

easyJet flights from Glasgow to Pisa start from August 1, 2026.

Sharm El Sheikh

Trips to Egypt are back on the rise with the likes of TUI starting trips and holidays there – and now easyJet is offering flights too.

The holiday destination that was huge with Brits in the noughties has plenty of pretty beach resorts, high temperatures and year-round sunshine.

During the summer months, temperatures in Sharm el Sheikh sit between 35C – 38C.

Sharm el Sheikh is also a popular winter sun destination because its average temperature is 24C which is around 17C warmer than the UK for that time of year.

Routes between Glasgow to Sharm El Sheikh will start from August 1, 2026.

Malta

Malta, which is smaller than the Isle of Wight, can slip under the radar when it comes to holidays.

But with new flights from easyJet, it’s bound to get more popular.

When one Sun writer visited the country, she discovered plenty of things that Brits will love from its red telephone boxes to restaurants offering English breakfasts.

Locals drive on the left and speak English (along with Maltese).

New flights from Glasgow to Malta will start from August 4, 2026.

For more holiday destinations – here are five alternative European holiday destinations you can still fly to after Ryanair axed hundreds of flights.

Plus, one of the best budget getaways in Europe for winter has been revealed and pints are 90p.

The Pinar de Can Camins is one of the few Mediterranean forests in its original state, with the 30-hectare Spanish forest belonging to the Natura 2000 Network and opening for just 10 days a year

Millions of people worldwide enjoy hiking, with many taking to slopes, hills, mountains and other challenging terrains each year.

However, some trails are more popular than others, such as the Seven Sisters walk in southern England, which becomes particularly crowded when the UK transitions from winter to spring and summer.

Spain also has a thriving hiking scene, but there’s one route that sees not thousands, but merely tens of tourists annually.

In a world of overtourism, the Pinar de Can Camins is a haven of tranquillity, reportedly accessible only about 10 times a year.

According to Trendencias, the Pinar de Can Camins is one of the few Mediterranean forests that remains in its original state, with the 30-hectare forest currently part of the Natura 2000 Network, reports the Express.

The limited visitor numbers are due to the forest only opening on the first Sunday of each month, excluding July and August. Moreover, only the first 25 tourists are allowed entry.

These lucky 25 visitors are given a free guided tour of the area, starting from the Puerta del Delta at 11am. Reservations can be made via phone, in person or email.

While Spain’s Pinar de Can Camis successfully limits tourist numbers, another Spanish territory has urged tourists to reconsider visiting in 2026.

In recent years, the Canary Islands have been a hotbed of tension between tourists and locals, with residents voicing concerns about the impact of mass tourism on their communities.

Last year alone, the Canary Islands played host to approximately 7.8 million visitors, while the islands’ airports processed around 27 million passengers during the same period.

Fodor’s Travel, a renowned travel publication, has included the Canary Islands in its 2026 ‘No list’, which highlights destinations experiencing a surge in tourism that travellers might want to reconsider visiting.

The Canary Islands made the list due to the overwhelming number of people flocking to popular spots like Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and Lanzarote.

Echoing this sentiment, an environmental group in Tenerife known as Asociación Tinerfeña de Amigos de la Naturaleza (ATAN) has raised the alarm that natural spaces are being “degraded”.

In a statement, they said: “Natural spaces are constantly degraded, with alarming losses in biodiversity. Overcrowding has erased peaceful places where we could once enjoy life there are no truly local spaces left.

“We are losing our identity, culture, and, ultimately, our right to exist as a community. Tourism has become unlimited, mass-oriented, and largely low-cost party tourism that doesn’t come to truly discover the islands, but to consume a fake backdrop.”

Silver Lake earned the “hipster” handle long before Spaceland opened its doors. But when the club threw its first show in March 1995 at the venue formerly known as Dreams of L.A., it marked a notable energy shift that made everyone take notice, establishing the neighborhood as a trendsetter and hub for creative talent. The live music space was the right idea, in the right place, at the right time.

Atmospheric dive bars, funky/punky mom-and-pop shops and reasonable rents began attracting artists, musicians and bohemian slackers and scenesters as residents in the early ’90s. They joined its vibrant queer community and multigenerational familial (mostly Latino) populace, which combined to make it one of the coolest places to live in L.A. It still is, albeit pricier and more pretentious, if you ask those who grew up there.

But 30 years ago things were different — the area was hip, but it also felt effortlessly eccentric. The annual Sunset Junction Street Fair, which closed off Sunset Boulevard between Fountain and Edgecliffe Drive beginning in the ’80s, started booking more legacy bands and hot new groups, broadening the cultural consciousness of the city and bringing Angelenos from all over town to the area until it ceased in 2010.

Silver Lake’s music mecca status was ultimately cemented when promoter Mitchell Frank decided to turn his weekly live music night at Dreams called Pan into a bona fide rock venue, taking what was bubbling in the streets, at house parties in the hills and at nearby rehearsal spaces and providing a singular home for music makers to nurture and grow their followings.

Opening night marked a benefit for quirky noise rockers Lutefisk, who lived in the area and, like many there, rehearsed at Hully Gully on Fletcher Drive. After their equipment was stolen, they put together a bill of buzzy local artists to raise funds, including headliner Beck, who got his start at the artsy coffeehouse called the Onyx next to the Vista Theatre, and later on Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz Village.

Rob Zabreckyn of Possom Dixon

(Arlen Hem)

Coupled with the darkly melodic alt-rock of Possum Dixon as openers, the show was a hot ticket. As last-minute luck would have it, the night became even more monumental with an early show addition — the debut of Dave Grohl’s new project called the Foo Fighters.

“It was just crazy. That night it was raining and both shows sold out,” recalls Lutefisk drummer Brandon Jay. “It was that lovely moment in time when KBLT started broadcasting and there was a growing scene in Silver Lake when everyone was like, ‘Oh, Silver Lake is the new Seattle’ — only it was more diverse.”

Jay, who went on to play with other bands like the 88 and Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang, hopes to remind local music fans about the seminal scene at the Regent this Saturday, where Lutefisk reunites alongside Dixon’s Rob Zabrecky (playing with various luminaries from the club) and Spaceland favorites Touchcandy, the Centimeters, Jon Wahl (Claw Hammer), Sissy Bar, W.A.C.O. and more.

“This show is as close as you’re gonna get to a real ’90s Spaceland night,” assures Frank. “Touchcandy, Lutefisk, Centimeters, Rob from Possum Dixon and Sissy Bar … this is the exact kind of beautiful symphonic chaos that defined that ’90s era. Nights like this are what propelled a fractured Eastside music scene into becoming a full-fledged scene.”

Indeed, gathering disparate genres, styles and niches in one place was what made this scene unique. “There were so many wonderful, eclectic bands,” Jay adds. “A bunch got signed, but you know, fame is a fickle thing, and you never know what might get played on the radio.”

Plenty who played at the club did. In addition to Beck and the Foos, local acts who broke after playing there include Silversun Pickups (named after a nearby liquor store), Rilo Kiley and the Airborne Toxic Event, while touring indie artists also earned their stripes in front of the mylar curtain-backdropped stage, namely the White Stripes, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, Jet, Ween, Cold War Kids, Death Cab for Cutie, Amy Winehouse … and the list goes on and on.

“There was a point in time where bands were coming through town on tour and playing L.A. for the first time and their agents all wanted them to play Spaceland’s Monday residency,” remembers former head booker Jennifer Tefft of the no-cover event, which became legendary by the early 2000s. “They played for free, but it allowed them to be seen. Everyone wanted to play there and not just on a local level, but on an international level. NME in the U.K. were giving the club so much press, so all these bands wanted to come to L.A. for it … Bloc Party, the Killers and My Morning Jacket all made their debuts at the club.”

Tefft went on to book the Bootleg Theater, but later returned to work with the building’s owner, Jeff Wolfram, to breathe new life into the Silver Lake space under the name the Satellite. It closed due to pandemic struggles in March 2020 and remains shuttered. Meanwhile, Frank, along with booker Liz Garo, left the venue — which was technically still called Dreams, to focus on his new space, the Echo and its later addition, the Echoplex.

He sold the Echo Park complex, along with the Regent, to Live Nation in 2019, but still remains involved in booking and other club business dealings. All three figures deserve credit for the cosmic alchemy and community spirit that made Spaceland and the world it created so game-changing. They really cared about the people who played there and would often champion their favorites and help build their followings through promotion and advertising, namely in the free print edition of LA Weekly.

“We all had the same sort of passion and curiosity about music and supporting locals,” shares Garo, who booked at Spaceland when Tefft left, and really made her name at the Echo. “I think that’s why it kept that integrity.”

There is no shortage of fond, slightly fuzzy memories at Spaceland. There were also many games of pool in their infamous upper-level smoking room (which puffed on even after the ’98 bar smoking ban due to a loophole).

Free Monday promotions were nothing new — Club Lingerie in Hollywood had been doing them for years — but Spaceland’s were magical for both the bands and the fans because of the monthlong residency model. Besides being budget-friendly and clearly well-curated, boasting up-and-comers and offering big-name surprises, it was a place to meet like-minded alternative types who fancied the same fashions, art and pop culture references.

Most of the local musicians who played there seemed to know each other simply from hanging out so much and those who proved themselves on stage were rewarded with new followings that got bigger each week.

The Centimeters perform at Spaceland

(Wild Don Lewis)

“Jen had a really good formula — you would do your residency, then you would not do another show for six weeks or so, and then you’d come back and do a ticketed show,” Garo explains. “Ideally that worked and kind of helped establish that bands could sell tickets. You know, when bands start off, they’re playing to their friends in the audience. When they get to that point where they don’t know anybody in the audience, that’s kind of a big deal.”

Beyond exposure and local notoriety, for Zabrecky, Jay and countless musicians who had residencies — many of whom will be seeing each other for the first time in years at the Regent show — Spaceland was formative not only for their music but also for their life trajectories.

“Playing Spaceland with Possum Dixon was always unpredictable,” recalls Zabrecky, who went on to become a revered magician and performer. “We never knew which direction a show might go. Every band was different, yet everyone was accepted and celebrated for what they were. Groups like Glue, Spindle, W.A.C.O. and the Abe Lincoln Story couldn’t have been more different from each other, and that made every lineup exciting. And, of course, we were all just making it up as we went along, buoyed by the support of our peers.”

The transitional period between Spaceland and the Satellite is marked by the band who helped put it on the map and unintentionally kicked off the fervor to begin with. The Foo Fighters chose the locale for their series of surprise pop-up shows debuting new material in 2011, right before the venue was renamed.

The next year, Forbes dubbed Silver Lake “America’s Hippest Hipster Neighborhood,” which meant it was no longer … that. American Apparel stores had infiltrated, corporate coffee was everywhere and artists were getting priced out, heading East into Echo Park, Mt. Washington, Highland Park and downtown too, with many of the bars and clubs in those regions seeking to capture the old Spaceland vibes. They still do.

Brian Wilson onstage with the Wondermints at Spaceland

(Courtesy of Brandon Jay)

In this way, Spaceland’s legacy has lasted beyond Gen X nostalgia for the good old days. Inspired by the fervent framework for music discovery and social connection of the past, new bands now showcase their stuff at the Echo, Regent, Zebulon, Redwood Bar and many more, eschewing Hollywood and the Sunset Strip for more laid-back environments.

Frank continues to lend his expertise to Live Nation; Garo is planning events and working with venues, from acoustic sets at her book shop Stories in Echo Park to her just-announced gig booking for Grand Performances downtown; and Jay, who lost his home in the California wildfires, turned the tragedy into a beautiful music exchange program called Altadena Musicians. He’s also involved in a new all-ages music venue called the Backyard Party in Pasadena, noting that a new generation of art-minded music rebels continues to thrive just like they did at Spaceland three decades ago.

Jay is also helping with the Regent show planning, and put in the call to Touchcandy’s David Willis, who’ll be flying into town from the U.K. just for the show. Word has also been put out to Beck and Grohl (though no commitments have been made), and the pirate radio station KBLT, whose documentary “40 Watts from Nowhere” counts Jay and Jack Black as producers, will offer sets from its deejays in between the live sounds.

The lineup listed on the event flier is meant to evoke the original benefit promo from ’95, and it represents the magnificent music mix all on its own, flashing back to an exciting era that L.A. music lovers who experienced it will never forget, a time when the scene was “young and free,” as Zabrecky remembers, and those lucky enough to be on the marquee played what he dubs “the best club at the best moment on Earth.”

“These bands were messy, loud, indie, real and somehow still innovative,” Frank adds of the 30th anniversary show, which is being touted as a Vol. 1, suggesting more to come. “Shows like this are the reason any of it mattered.”

Mexican American singer Gerardo Ortiz will serve three years of probation after testifying against Ángel del Villar, chief executive of Del Records, who federal prosecutors linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

In March, Del Villar was found guilty of violating the Kingpin Act, a federal law that prohibits U.S. residents and companies from doing business with known drug traffickers and their associates. He was sentenced to four years in federal prison and fined $2 million. However, Del Villar remains free while he appeals his conviction.

Ortiz also pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy tied to the case and was sentenced to a probationary period of three years on Nov. 19. He will also pay a fine, but the amount has not been confirmed, his publicist said in an email to The Times.

“First of all, I want to apologize to my fans for everything that’s happened,” said Ortiz. “We hope to keep moving forward.”

Within that statement, the “Mañana Voy a Conquistarla” singer also promoted his new album, “El Ejemplar,” Spanish for “the exemplar,” which came out a day after his sentencing on Nov. 20.

Federal court filings against Del Villar date back to 2022, after federal authorities accused the label mogul and his company of doing business with Jesús Pérez Alvear, a Guadalajara-based music promoter who also went by the nickname “Chucho.”

The Treasury Department had previously sanctioned Pérez Alvear, who they said laundered drug money for CJNG and a related trafficking group, Los Cuinis.

In the same 2022 complaint, it was also alleged that a “well-known musician,” now identified as música Mexicana star Ortiz, was approached by an FBI agent on April 19, 2018, at the Phoenix airport. The official informed the hitmaker of Pérez Alvear’s alleged connection to criminal organizations in Mexico and prohibited Ortiz from conducting future business with him.

Despite the warning, Ortiz admitted to performing on April 28, 2018, at Feria de San Marcos in Aguascalientes, Mexico, which was organized by Pérez Alvear. Del Villar’s credit card was used to purchase the flight.

“We were there singing at that event; everyone saw it on YouTube, they saw photos. For the fans who were there that day, it was impossible to say no. That show happened; we were there in Aguascalientes, and that’s all. I have nothing more to say,” said Ortiz following his sentencing. “Were there lies? A lot of things have been said, but that’s the truth. We were there singing at that concert, we were there, sharing a bit of our music with the audience.”

Prosecutors claimed that it was Del Villar who had persuaded Ortiz to ignore the FBI’s warning as he stood to profit off the promoter’s showcases. On several occasions in 2018 and 2019, authorities said, Pérez Alvear and Del Villar continued to do business by arranging for Ortiz to perform at concerts across Mexico.

Pérez Alvear promoted concerts for Del Entertainment in Mexico until March 2019. In December 2024, he was gunned down in a Mexico City restaurant.

Prior to this case, Del Records was at one point in a feud with Ortiz, a Pasadena native who was once arrested in Mexico on a charge of “criminal exaltation” for appearing in a music video that portrayed the mistress of a drug lord being bound, gagged and stuffed in the trunk of a car, which Ortiz then set on fire.

Ortiz and Del Villar sued each other in 2019, trading accusations of fraud and other misconduct. When the FBI raided the label’s Bell Gardens offices in 2020, a spokesman claimed the agents were only seeking records concerning Ortiz.

Times reporter Matthew Ormseth, Carlos de Loera and Brittny Mejia contributed to this report.

Rio Hondo Prep in Arcadia is like “The Little Engine That Could.” The Kares are 13-0 and set to play for a 17th Southern Section football title on Saturday night despite having a student body of only 150, of which 82 are boys. Their opponent in the Division 5 final is host Redondo Union, which has a student body of nearly 3,000.

Coach Mark Carson said he embraces the challenge of his team moving up, from winning Division 9 two years ago to winning Division 7 last season after years of competing in Division XIII under old playoff systems based on size, geography and past performance. Now a computer algorithm decides divisional placement. The school has grades seven through 12, so Carson starts training players in middle school with the same offense through high school.

“The key is we have a great middle school tackle football program,” he said.

Every boy in the school knows they’re going to play football or work in the program as a manager. Many are multiple-sport athletes. The chemistry and knowledge they build together is apparent on the football field.

“We don’t really pay attention to numbers on the other team,” Carson said.

Quarterback Yanick Diaz said he has been with some of his teammates since kindergarten. They trust each other.

“I’ve known some of these guys for 15, 16 years,” Diaz said. “It’s still 11 versus 11. I’ll take my 11 over yours.”

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

Nov. 26 (UPI) — Brazil is preparing to end the year with a grain harvest that could make history.

According to official estimates, the country could surpass 340 million metric tons of cereals, legumes and oilseeds in 2025, providing a significant economic boost amid global food uncertainty.

The latest figures from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics place expected production at 345.6 million metric tons in 2025, marking an increase of 18.1% over the previous season.

Officials attribute the gains to expanded planted areas, productivity improvements and relatively favorable weather conditions in the country’s main agricultural regions.

At the same time, the National Supply Company has projected a volume of 354.8 million metric tons for the 2025-26 season, supported by a 3.3% increase in cultivated area to 84.4 million hectares.

The estimated yield is 4,203 kilograms per hectare, although the agency warned that weather conditions remain critical to crop development.

Soybeans and corn will remain the main drivers of Brazil’s agricultural sector.

Brazil’s grain boom is reshaping global food costs. Backed by a powerful agribusiness lobby, Brazilian farmers have responded by increasing yields and planting in new regions, while port and rail operators race to keep goods moving, Agência Brasil reported.

However, the sector’s performance is not free of challenges. International pressure for environmental traceability and the implementation of the European Union Deforestation Regulation could raise regulatory costs for soybean and beef exporters that supply the European market.

Although the impact will be gradual, analysts warn that Brazilian producers will need to adapt to avoid losing ground in one of the world’s highest-income markets.

While producers argue that export growth supports Brazil’s trade surplus, rural employment and a relatively strong currency, environmental groups counter that expanding soybean and corn production risks driving deforestation and increasing pressure on traditional communities.

Still, the consensus among government agencies and international consultancies is that Brazil will end the year with one of the strongest harvests in its history, reinforcing its image as the “breadbasket of the world” and increasing agribusiness’s share of GDP.

Experts note that for ordinary consumers abroad, these dry-tonnage figures matter more than they appear. When Brazil exports more corn, soybeans and cornmeal, livestock feed costs can fall, which in the long run helps contain the prices of meat, dairy and cooking oil.

When the flow slows, the opposite occurs, and the effects can be felt in supermarket aisles from São Paulo to Shanghai.

The Los Angeles Fire Department is requesting a budget of more than $1 billion for the coming year, arguing that the additional funding is necessary to be prepared for wildfires like the one that devastated Pacific Palisades in January.

The request, which represents a more than 15% increase over this year’s budget, includes money for 179 new firefighting recruits and a second crew dedicated to fighting wildfires, as well as helitanker services to battle fires from the air.

In the immediate aftermath of the Palisades fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes, top LAFD officials blamed a lack of resources and extraordinarily high winds for their failures in combating the flames.

United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112, the union that represents the city’s firefighters, has long argued that the department is severely underfunded and is pushing for a half-cent sales tax that, if approved by voters, would generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Fire Chief Jaime Moore, who was appointed to his post earlier this month, wrote in a memo to the Board of Fire Commissioners last Friday that “the proposed budget will reinforce and accelerate operational enhancements implemented following the devastating Palisades wind-driven vegetation fire in January 2025.”

Moore’s request is the first step in a lengthy process to hammer out a city budget that requires approval by the City Council and the mayor. This year, the city had to close a nearly $1-billion shortfall caused largely by rising personnel costs, soaring legal payouts and a slowdown in the local economy.

City department heads often request amounts far higher than they eventually receive. With the city still in a budget crunch, the outlook for the LAFD’s request is unclear.

“The budget process is in its early stages. Reforms must continue to be implemented at the department and Mayor Bass looks forward to working with Chief Moore to strengthen the city’s emergency preparedness,” said Clara Karger, a spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass.

Genethia Hudley Hayes, who heads the civilian Board of Fire Commissioners, said Tuesday that she had not yet seen the request but that she generally supports a 15% increase in the LAFD budget.

“We need it,” she said. “The smart thing would be to let the public know what you are going to do with that money.”

In the days leading up to Jan. 7, LAFD officials decided not to order firefighters to remain on duty for a second shift — which would have required paying them overtime — and staffed just a few of the more than 40 engines available to aid in battling wildfires, despite warnings of life-threatening winds, a Times investigation found.

Then-Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said that commanders had to be strategic with limited resources while continuing to handle regular 911 calls.

An LAFD after-action report released last month cited “financial constraints” as a factor in pre-deployment decisions.

The Times also found that an LAFD battalion chief ordered firefighters to leave the site of the Jan. 1 Lachman fire, despite firefighters’ complaints that the ground was still smoldering. That fire later reignited into the Palisades fire.

Moore’s budget memo tied many of his requests to the Palisades fire.

The second wildland hand crew, which would include 32 positions for $2 million, would supplement a hand crew formed this year, after the Palisades fire. The crew’s 26 recruits, who are trained in wildfire fighting and management, establish fire lines to stop flames from spreading. Throughout the year, they do brush clearance around the city.

The helitanker lease, costing slightly less than $1 million, would support aerial attacks of flames that are difficult for crews on the ground to reach.

Moore’s budget request includes the reinstatement of the LAFD’s emergency incident technicians, who help coordinate responses to fires — positions that were cut in the last budget cycle. The after-action report described the LAFD’s disorganized response to the Palisades fire, citing major issues with staffing and communications.

In the fire’s aftermath, the LAFD’s budget was a subject of public debate, with some saying that Bass had reduced it. The 2024-25 budget actually increased slightly after firefighters received raises and the city invested in new firetrucks and other purchases. The budget increased again in 2025-2026.

Bass said she has committed additional resources to the Fire Department in each year she has been mayor.

The half-cent sales tax proposed by the firefighters union would go before city voters as a ballot measure next November.

By 2050, the sales tax would raise at least $9.8 billion, funding at least 30 new fire stations and new fire trucks, as well as adding 1,400 Fire Department employees, according Doug Coates, the acting president of UFLAC, and Councilmember Traci Park, whose district includes Pacific Palisades.

It’s awards season crunch time, in the sense that I’m crunching in as much work as I can before a Thanksgiving respite — including a guide to some of the highlights from this week’s issue of The Envelope, covered by my profile of Renate Reinsve.

Whether it’s while you smell turkey legs being turned into gravy (i.e., if you’re me as I write this) or as you’re lounging around over the holiday weekend, I hope you’ll dive into the great stories below. And be sure to take a breather from the mayhem in the process. It’s a marathon, not a sprint!

Digital Cover: Ethan Hawke

(Victoria Will / For The Times)

In the years since the Golden Age of TV, it’s not been uncommon for actors to vie for major awards on both the big and small screens at once. But few in recent memory have done so in such distinct projects as Ethan Hawke in “Blue Moon” and “The Lowdown”: One is a chamber drama about the last days of legendary songwriter Lorenz Hart, the other a noirish tale of a hangdog journalist.

It’s a reflection of the actor’s voracious appetite for the unexpected (see also: “Black Phone 2”), which he reveals that some in Hollywood once found “irritating.”

“Generally, people are more comfortable when they know exactly what you are and what your thing is, and if you keep changing your thing it’s confusing,” he tells writer Emily Zemler. “But it’s always been interesting to me to do different things. It makes acting really exciting to me to keep shaking it up. Each thing has its own geometry and math, and that keeps you really engaged.”

Eva Victor on ‘Sorry, Baby’

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

One of my favorite films of the year, “Sorry, Baby” works on many levels — as a campus satire, a portrait of a friendship, a slice of small-town life. And as writer-director-star Eva Victor writes in a new essay on the film, it took all of those other levels to make the film’s deepest, darkest level possible.

“There was a time in my life when I was looking for a film about going through a trauma that held my hand while I was watching it,” Victor notes, contrasting “Sorry, Baby” with films that depict similar subjects with violent imagery. “I needed the film to care for me, the person who’d been through the difficult thing. I didn’t need a film that existed to teach people how bad it is to go through a bad thing, I needed a film that existed to make me feel less alone.”

How ‘F1’ became a part of F1

As an avowed fan of Formula One, from docuseries “Drive to Survive” to scripted miniseries “Senna,” what fascinated me most watching Apple TV’s summer blockbuster “F1” was the delicate logistical dance it must’ve required to shoot a major theatrical film at actual races on the actual F1 circuit. Maybe that’s my stressed-out editor brain at work, but I asked Nate Rogers to dig into the question.

He reports back that even with legendary racer Lewis Hamilton and Apple on board, the film had to prove “that they could set up at an event like the fabled British Grand Prix at Silverstone and not cause a pileup.”

“We had to rehearse the blocking and staging for about two weeks with a stopwatch … to prove to them that we could actually shoot a scene and get off the track before the race started,” director Joseph Kosinski tells Rogers.

I can recognize a tough deadline when I see one.

Additional highlights from our Nov. 25 issue