Back from the Dead

Thanks to a gutsy comeback victory against the Portland Trailblazers last night at Staples Center, the Los Angeles Lakers have now won nine straight. Purple and Gold went to the locker room down by seven at the half, but roared back with help from Jordan Farmar, who matched his career best of 21 points, and Kobe Bryant’s team-high 30 points. LA overcame poor shooting from two of their starters, Derek Fisher and Luke Walton, and first-half foul trouble for Kobe and Lamar Odom on the way to the 96-83 final. On Thursday they face the dismal Miami Heat, who notched their first W in the post-Shaq era yesterday against the Sacramento Kings. This will be the fifth Lakers game for Wear & Tear this season, and will hopefully end with the Lakers celebrating a 10th consecutive win.

Netflix delivered a few of the Coen brothers DVDs I added to the queue following Sunday’s Oscar honors for No Country for Old Men, so first up is The Ladykillers, the remake of a 1955 crime comedy starring Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers, with Tom Hanks taking the reigns in the lead role. I’m not sure how this film eluded me during its 2004 theatrical release, but the time is ripe to give it a chance. The Man Who Wasn’t There and Intolerable Cruelty will be screened later this week, as those will be the only two movies that remain before my viewing of the Coens’ entire filmography is complete.

The recent weather in Los Angeles caught me a bit off guard as the thermometer climbed to 76 degrees in West Hollywood on Tuesday while I wore a fleece in anticipation of colder temps. Today should be equally pleasant with a high of 74 forecast for Santa Monica. There are a few concerts of interest tonight, most notably Into the Presence at Viper Room and Perpetual Groove at Knitting Factory. An electronica influenced jam-rock band from Athens, Georgia, Pgroove get the crowd moving with their restless tempo and dynamic lighting display. Into the Presence are a guitar, bass, and drums trio that feature Tim Alexander of Primus behind the skins. At the Roxy last year, cellist Ana Lenchantin was invited to join them on stage for a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter” during their hour-long set. The cozy Viper Room is always a good place to see a band from up close, and with the unexpected warmth proving to be rather inviting, there’s really no good reason to stay at home this evening.

This entry was posted on February 27th, 2008 and is filed under Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.