NEO

Gary Fan was a co-founder of another opposition party, the Neo Democrats.

For generations, too many blockbuster franchises have leaned on “chosen one” heroes who were simply born special, from Harry Potter and Neo to Kung Fu Panda and Austin Powers, who discovered to his chagrin that he and the villainous Dr. Evil were secretly twin brothers.

A special screening of Andrew DeYoung’s comedy “Friendship,” starring Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd, and the closing-night selection of Neo Sora’s coming-of-age story “Happyend” will both also have their West Coast premieres.

Roy Ayers, the “King of Neo Soul” who was born and raised on Vernon Avenue just south of downtown Los Angeles and saw more than 60 of his songs sampled by a who’s who of hip-hop and soul artists, died Wednesday in New York.

His “King of Neo Soul” title came from singer-songwriter Erykah Badu, one of the artists who partnered with him on his 2004 record “Mahogany Vibe.”