Welcome to issue 73 of EatDrinkFilms.

This week’s issue brings a variety of responses to the vitality of Anthony Lucero’s Oakland-set movie East Side Sushi. In one of two installments of “Critics Corner” this week, Tien-Tien L. Jong foregrounds the film’s layered approach to tradition and its dedication to a woman’s story, of self-determination, while Patricia Unterman savors its cross-cultural creativity and authentic love of food. Broadening the perspective, Risa Nye interviews Erin and Tim Archuleta of ICHI Sushi and ICHI Kakiya for their take on the movie. And this week’s “Eat My Shorts” presents some short works by Lucero.

Conversely, two other features this week focus on movies steeped in mortality. In a “Critics Corner” attuned to the historical background behind Black Mass, Czar of Noir Eddie Muller distinguishes between noir and the film’s gangster-horror, while Jeffrey M. Anderson examines the movie within the context of Johnny Depp’s career. “Shaken & Stirred” columnist Michael Cecconi takes aim at the teen horror film It Follows, then fixes a drink in response to its characters.

Issue 73 of EatDrinkFilms also includes two pairs of recipes in conjunction with the Eat Real Festival — “Offal Wonderful” dishes from Rancho Llano Seco, a sixth-generation family farm in Chico, and a Slow Food-informed approach to pasta by BAIA Pasta, which will be serving Mac ‘n Cheese at the festival.

Best,

Johnny

Johnny Ray Huston has written about film, music, and visual art for 25 years at various newspapers, magazines, and websites. He has co-created movies and put together film programs shown at Artists’ Television Access, Yerba Buena Center of the Arts, and the San Francisco International Film Festival, and written and made collage work for exhibitions at [2nd Floor Projects] in San Francisco.