Past Stories
Murder, Strip Parties Spell Bad News for Seven Adopted Kids
We’re going to give our usual snark and general refusal to take stuff seriously to actually . . . well . . . take something kind of seriously.
We don’t think we’re taking an unusually strong stance when we say…
Deputies Found Justified in Death of Man Following Foot Chase
June 2, 2010 was Jose Jesus Garcia’s unlucky day.
That was the day the 38-year-old Las Vegas man ran from sheriff’s deputies and U.S. Marshals. The deputies chasing him through the grounds of a Bloomington school had just a...
Homicide Numbers Rise as SBPD Prepares to Cut (Lots of) Staff
The city of San Bernardino just can’t seem to catch a break these days.
It’s no secret that the city’s having pretty profound financial problems. It is one of a handful of California cities seeking Chapter 9 bankruptcy pr...
Master of His Own Domain
Idyllwild native Casey Abrams goes with what his gut tells him
“I tried to contact him once, and he didn’t respond, so I was kind of pissed,” laughs American Idol finalist Casey Abrams, whose preferred domain name was alr...
Rios drops City Council Bid, Still Charged With a Bunch of Felonies
Here at “The Watch Dog,” our goal is to post a wide variety of crime stories from around the Inland Empire and not to continually draw stories from one area, over and over. That said, in the six weeks “The&hel...
Former Upland Mayor’s Plea Deal Could’ve Been a Lot Worse . . . For Him
All Inland Empire cities whose mayor didn’t plead guilty to bribery, please step forward.
Not so fast, Upland.
The joke’s probably not funny to Upland residents (or, let’s be honest, anyone else) since they’re still dea...
Russell Peters
Russell Peters
Sat, June 9
By Ashley Bennett
Here we’ve got comedy neighbors in LA, we have the Flapper’s Comedy in Claremont and prestigious performances over at the Ontario Improv but best of all, we’ve got ...
The Killings
SBPD deals with a city that’s become a war zone
San Bernardino police are super glad May is over. Actually, it’s safe to say that pretty much anyone who lives in the city feels the same way.
It’s because the…
Upland Lemon Festival
Fri, April 27-Sun, April 29
“3 Days Where Lemon is King.” Does the city of Upland have a surplus of lemons? Why are those sour, drink-enhancing fruits being worshipped like Charlie Sheen on coke? This lemon festival invites...
Beyond Wonderland 2012
Sat, March 17
If this is the next generation of music, I don’t want to live on this planet anymore (Does anyone watch Futurama?). But sincerely, if you fancy a cacophony of computer-generated, loud blurts of random bass sound...
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
The last thing one probably thinks of when breathing in the rolling hills and golden plateaus of the picturesque French countryside is cancer. Yet, in director Jean-Paul Jaud’s new documentary, cancer is exactly what&rsqu...
Say Anything (20th Anniversary Edition)
Just like legendary teen flicks Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and the Breakfast Club, Cameron Crowe’s late-’80s directorial debut has a cult following – but this one is mostly made up of guys...
Toi & Moi
Connoisseurs of French film can quite fairly claim some of the most cutting-edge cinema ever to be filmed within their critically acclaimed yet often snooty backyard. From Renoir’s La Grande Illusion through the works of ...
Il Divo
Writer-director Paolo Sorrentino’s stylish biopic on former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti is a brilliantly executed testament to the visual power of cinema: unless you’ve closely followed Italy’s pol...
Who is KK Downey?
Who is KK Downey? is a worthy satire. It is the rare comedy that is both scathingly sharp and on-target in its more subtle satirical moments, but capable of laying on the broad, stupid humor too. The guys responsible for…
They Killed Sister Dorothy
In 2005, Sister Dorothy Stang—a missionary from Dayton, Ohio—was brutally gunned down in the Brazilian rainforests she dedicated her life to protecting. Called the “Angel of the Amazon” by local farmers,...
The Story of Roxy Music: More Than This
“Imagine being a teenager and seeing aliens arrive on [singles chart TV show] Top of the Pops,” jokes Bono at the start of More Than This, an excellent hour-long documentary on Roxy Music that was originally broadca...
Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry
Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry is a kick ass documentary that pulls you into the life and times of legendary 20th century tattoo artist Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins. It combines archival footage with interviews of promine...
Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary
Lovers of documentary film will find more than a few gems in this documentary about documentaries from filmmaker Pepita Ferrari and the National Film Board of Canada. Putting the art form of “capturing reality” unde...
The Stepfather
Timed to coincide with the release of a remake starring Nip/Tuck’s Dylan Walsh, the original The Stepfather is finally out on DVD. The original had its theatrical run back in 1987 and is considered a cult classic—fa...
Full Battle Rattle
Documentarians Tony Gerber and Jesse Moss shine a disturbing light on an angle of the Iraq War most of us don’t even know exists: the new, and some might say delusional face of counterinsurgency training. Deep in the hear...
What on Earth? Inside the Crop Circle Mystery
What on Earth? is a charming, sometimes loopy, sometimes mind-blowing documentary on the subject of crop circles. For those not in the know, crop circles are wonderfully intricate geometric designs that show up in corn fields u...
Second Skin
Second Skin is a compelling, sometimes troubling look into the world of online gaming. Games such as World of Warcraft and Everquest are vastly popular right now, huge cash cows and to some evidence of the Internet’s more...
Calle 13: Sin Mapa.
Calle 13: Sin Mapa is a documentary that both brings to light some of the poorer areas of South America, the humble lives lived by it’s indigenous people and a glimpse into the private moments when a rock star feels…
The Chieftains: Live at Montreux 1997
Few bands are more ingrained in Celtic music tradition than The Chieftains. You hear ’em at folk fests and St. Paddy’s Day parties, piping through authentic Irish pubs and during PBS concert broadcasts. Still going ...
Alien Trespass
Billed as a loving tribute to bad sci-fi films, this Canadian export starring ex-Will & Grace hunk Eric McCormack sets off on the right course, but just like the spaceship of its unfortunate alien hero, plummets head first ...
Bridge to Nowhere
Bridge to Nowhere is the story of four young men from a working-class neighborhood who turn to crime (in this case prostitution) to try to escape their dead-end futures, and the dangers, temptations and attendant joys they expe...
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is an adaptation of Michael Chabon’s 1988 novel of the same name. It is directed by Rawson Michael Thurber, the man who gave the world that great cinematic masterpiece Dodgeball. Really, I kid....
