The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 27

CALENDAR LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR Pixar 25th anniversary, and the studio has kicked back and given a present to itself and its ever-expanding audience with the genially entertaining A movie that loves autos and care who knows it, is so close to the heart of John Lasseter that he carved out time from being the creative czar of both Pixar and Disney animation to direct it himself, the first time done that since, well, the original five years ago. But to expect simply a revisiting of the gang from Radiator Springs is to underestimate the Pixar philosophy. takes the studio into unexpected new territory by bringing its familiar characters to a spy thriller complete with secret weapons, sinister villains and clandestine agents calling frantically for backup. Though it spends time in familiar Carburetor County, also goes far afield geographically, unleashing racing whiz Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) and his best Mater (Larry the Cable the rest of the world as Lightning travels toParis and competes in the World Grand Prix in Tokyo, Pixar HIGHFLYING: Lightning McQueen, left foreground, and Mater, right foreground, become enmeshed in a spy drama in All revved up REVIEW MOVIES shifts into high gear with a spy thriller plot but finds time to teach kid-friendly lessons about being yourself. ENNETH URAN FILM CRITIC It was Memorial Day weekend 2010 and the internationally famous American DJ Kaskadewas standing in his hotel room on the 35th floor of the Encore hotel in Las Vegas looking down on the pool of the just-opened Encore Beach Club.

were thousands of people inside, and I could see thousands of people trying to get said Kaskade, whose real name is Ryan Raddon, byphone recently from Brazil, where he was due to spin that night. it was were grinning ear to That day marked the beginning of weekly summer residency at Encore Beach Club, which met with unprecedented success and went a long way toward proving what many in that nightlife industry had been saying since 2008: Las Vegas is fast morphing into the electronic dance music capital of the world, beating even Ibiza, the Spanish island long known for its hedonistic nightlife and top- name talent. The electronic music craze is in turn driving the expandingnightlife scene. Nightlife baron Sean Christie, the man behind NIGHT LIFE Isaac Brekken For The Times DANCING THE NIGHT AWAY: The party is just getting started in the wee small hours of the morning at the Surrender nightclub at the Encore Las Vegas. Bright lights, spin city: Dance music hot in Vegas Jessica Gelt Vegas, As an artist who exposes social hierarchies and power structures, Barbara Kruger likes to be the observer, not the observed.

But this month she has been a hot topic of conversation in the boardrooms of L.A. museums the kind of talk that leads to acquisitions. The Hammer Museum has just finalized the purchase of a room-sized video installation from her exhibition at Arts in Venice, her first local show since a 1999 survey at MOCA. And the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has acquired a 94-foot tall work that wraps around the elevator shaft at the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, the Renzo Piano building that opened in 2008. For the Hammer, where Kruger is an artist member on the board of overseers, this is the first purchase of her work; the county museum already owns two photographs.

The four-channel video bought by the Hammer, Globe from 2010, deals with questions of personal agency and responsibility. It juxtaposes footage from zealous religious gatherings with actors and comics performing slick routines, with lines of text occasionally appearing a bit like a live-action version of her celebrated billboards that bring together bold images and words. (One of her most famous images reads body is a which she revised recently in light of the current abortion debate to say: body is still a video has her usual subjects of power, hypocrisy and brutality, but I think done with great humor, and also very says Hammer Museum director Ann Philbin. a way in the video she gets to be even more nuanced and layered Kruger artwork stays in L.A. The Hammer and LACMA each snap up a piece by the in-your-face artist.

Jori Finkel LACMA The work is now a part of LACMA. Kruger, Political films can be a tough sell in many countries, to say the least. But director Huang Jianxin is confident that sitting on a blockbuster with of the Great a historical epic detailing the founding of Communist Party. Of course, got some advantages that would make almost any other filmmaker green with envy. For starters, his cast includes more than 170 of his most famous actors, including Chow Yun-fat, John Woo and Andy Lau, who waived their salaries to take part.

Second, many theaters have quietly cleared out or pushed back popular competing titles such as Fu Panda and of the Caribbean: On Stranger to make way for his movie. And then the fact that many companies are compelling their employees to see the film, local government websites are urging people to attend as a patriotic responsibility, and some municipalities are footing the bill for citizen screenings. all pretty patriotic and the anniversary of the party is approaching, so our duty to see this said Li Pingping, 18, a student at Peking University who organized a group of friends to see the movie the day after it opened in China last REEL CHINA A political film a must see An epic on the Chinese Communist Party is drawing crowds who have been urged by government and business to view it. Benjamin Haas reporting from beijing China, House party Barbara comedy show makes one feel at home hers. D3 More movie news and reviews Documentary goes behind the scenes at N.Y.

Times. D6 Pottermore: Harry Potter fans get an interactive online experience. D8 This raunchy romantic romp stars Cameron Diaz. D10 The comic heals his wounds by touring. D16 Better A gardener lives in constant fear of deportation.

D16 Also Jazz: Wynton Marsalis brings his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra to the Hollywood Bowl. D21 Pop: My Morning Jacket remains dedicated to ordered chaos. D21 Ask Amy D23 Books D23 Comics D26-27 Galleries D18 Theater D17 TV grid D28 Columbia TriStar Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz. CMYK.