Fall 2010: Hollywood Hits and Misses

She’s quite possibly the biggest pop star in America right now. What more is there to say? In the last 12 months, she’s won a Grammy for album of the year, debuted a No. 1 album in October that sold more than 1 million copies in its first week and starred in her very own Thanksgiving prime-time special. Her tour won’t hit Los Angeles until next summer, but the pop artist with a country bent seems to be on an unstoppable streak.

-- Todd Martens  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Not even Raúl Esparza firing on all cylinders as an evangelical con man could save the soul of this misbegotten musical, based on the 1992 movie starring Steve Martin. The show, which opened at the Ahmanson in October, featured an out-of-key Brooke Shields as a small town single mom, whose good looks and sweet crippled kid help rescue Esparza’s character from his swindling game. As stories go, this one isn’t without promise. But the score by Oscar winner Alan Menken and Glenn Slater was unpardonably generic, and the direction and choreography by Rob Ashford were desperate to cover up the obvious fact that this show would need a long stay in purgatory before having any chance of reaching the pearly gates of Broadway.

-- Charles McNulty  (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

The Resnick Exhibition Pavilion, which opened in October, gives LACMA a big, clean, flexible, naturally lighted, single-story space for temporary shows. And unlike so many new art museum buildings, the art is right inside the front door, not sequestered behind a café, party space, shop or other paraphernalia incidental to the reason you are there.

-- Christopher Knight  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Despite all intentions, “Eye for the Sensual: Selections From the Resnick Collection” is an eloquent argument against vanity exhibitions in art museums. With a smattering of first-rate works, many of which have been on individual loan to museums before, the ragtag array is achingly incoherent.

-- Christopher Knight  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Hollywood, where is the love? Lately, it seems as if more celebrities are calling it quits than walking down the aisle. Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman, Billy Ray Cyrus and wife Tish, Eva Longoria and Tony Parker and Laura Dern and Ben Harper are among the couples who filed for divorce this fall.

-- Emily Christianson  (AP / Getty Images / AP / AP)

They don’t have the “Right Stuff”? They already were “larger than life”? The puns can keep coming. But seriously guys, the Beatles never did a reunion tour despite their gaggle of grown-up fans. What makes you think you can?

-- Whitney Friedlander  (Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images for DCP)

Talk about a windfall. The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens will be receiving a cash gift in the neighborhood of $100 million. The generous donation comes from the estate of L.A. art patron Frances Brody.

-- Emily Christianson  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

The favorite of design magazine editors and L.A. Times arts critics alike was honored in September with a $500,000 grant.

-- Whitney Friedlander  (Matt Harbicht / Getty Images)

This hip-hop newcomer is rising fast. Her “Pink Friday” is on pace to land near the top of the U.S. pop charts. So, who, exactly is she? Good question.

A sampling of the Times’ review: Switching accents, hair colors and musical styles, Minaj has absorbed a little something from most every bombastic female in the last 30 years of pop on her debut album, “Pink Friday.” Remember the Spice Girls and all their manufactured personas? Minaj rifles through all of them at warp speed -- and it’s that very quality that makes her an electrifying talent and at risk for permanent disassociation from herself.

-- Todd Martens  (AFP/Getty Images)

Oh, “Glee,” you and your envelope-pushing ways. Except this time it’s not always for the singing. There was the racy GQ cover (pictured -- and shot by Terry Richardson no less). Soon after, Mr. Shue (Matthew Morrison) showed his pecs for Details, and even “Other Asian” Mike Chang (dancer Harry Shum Jr.)’s six pack got a magazine spread. We get it. You’re attractive not-kids playing misfit kids on a TV show. Can we move on now?

-- Whitney Friedlander  (Terry Richardson / Associated Press)

Far East Movement, the Los Angeles electro/rap group, reached a notable milestone this fall. Not only did its third album, “Free Wired,” debut at No. 24 on the Billboard charts, one of the highest charting debuts by any all-Asian American group, but its “Like a G6” became the No. 1 single in the country (having already crowned digital charts for weeks).

-- Todd Martens  (Stefano Paltera / For The Times)