Thursday News and Notes

:: We've been getting a kick all week about the Star Wars fans who refuse to stop lining up outside the Grauman's Chinese Theater... even though they eventually discovered that "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" wasn't playing there. (It's slated for the Arclight instead.) Blogging.la has been covering the story all week, while Defamer has a roundup of the media frenzy that has developed around the fans' decision to stay put.

:: LAVoice attended a briefing on AEG's proposed downtown entertainment complex, and doesn't come away impressed:

Part of the plans include a 30,000 square foot plaza which is to act as the center of downtown activity. It's true that this is what the metropolis needs, more wide open spaces in which the community can feel centralized and civic minded.

But what I foresee is that the REAL downtown, which includes MOCA, Chinatown, Union Station, Little Tokyo, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Grand Central Market and so on, places with significant historical and cultural value, will be trapped in the shadow of this mammoth spectacle. This plaza is not being built for true Angelenos, but for corporate conventions, out of town guests; it is a giant visitor vacuum not far removed from Universal City or the Vegas strip.

First, the Hilton hotel, will be the third tallest building in California, and it's design is the usual rectangular/angular architectural version of a phallus slicing into the sky. Second, the Nokia Theater is being designed in order to attract every major awards show in the country, which includes shows that are currently being held in other LA venues like the newly built Kodak Theatre.

Third, the Grammy's Music Museum is being built to promote Los Angeles at the "Music Capitol of the World". Now, are we really being honest with ourselves here? The music capitol of the world? This power point slide was enhanced with pictures of the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and so on... as if the soul of LA had somehow given birth to their musical talents despite their true origins in other states and countries.

So what is this place going to look like? The sketches to me looked like someone picked up the new Sunset & Vine complex and placed it across the street from Staples, and then added a host of abnormally large electronic billboards on every building.


:: The L.A. Times weighs in on the rebirth of the famed 1960 Chemosphere house.

Publisher Benedikt Taschen and his soon-to-be ex-wife bought the 2,200 structure and restored it to its original state. Apparently the house was in pretty shabby condition after serving for ten years as a party rental.

Sez the Times: The fate seemed unjust for a structure the Encyclopedia Britannica had once judged "the most modern home built in the world," and which had appeared in Brian De Palma's "Body Double" and the James Bond movie "Diamonds Are Forever." It's hard not to see the house, which sits on a 29-foot-high, 5-foot-wide concrete column over a long-considered-unbuildable Hollywood Hills site, as a hovering flying saucer or a prototype for the 23rd century architecture of "The Jetsons."