by Risa Nye
The Alchemy Bottle Shop on Grand Avenue is a welcome addition to the neighborhood for those who appreciate a bounty of bottled spirits. Continue reading
Showbiz Moms: Tensions at Home for Ladies in the Limelight
Turner Classic Movies and film historian Richard Corliss presents Mom in the Movies, a definitive, fully illustrated book that shares the many ways Hollywood has celebrated, vilified and otherwise memorialized dear old Mom. Continue reading
Film Reviews: BELLE
Here are two unique critical perspectives on BELLE (2014, Amma Asante), from Ellen Sebastian Chang and Asha Richardson. Continue reading
List of SFIFF Feature, Documentary & Shorts Award Winners
The 57th San Francisco International Film Festival wrapped up on Thursday, May 8th, 2014, but not before the San Francisco Film Society announced the winners of the Golden Gate Award and New Directors Prize competitions. Here is a list of the winners, with comments from the jury. Continue reading
The Secret Restaurant: Roasted Artichokes
by Peter Moore
Welcome to The Secret Restaurant. Sit anywhere you’d like. Each week I’ll be using whatever’s fresh and in season at the local Farmers’ Markets to create recipes. The focus might be an ingredient, a technique, a piece of equipment, or an event (in a few weeks I’ll be putting up recipes for a Mother’s Day feast). Continue reading
David Thomson at SFIFF and Moments That Made the Movies: The Shining
Writer and critic David Thomson will be awarded the Novikoff Award by the San Francisco Film Society on Sunday, May 4. See more details and read an excerpt from his book “The Moments That Made the Movies.” Continue reading
A Place at the Table: The 2014 Creative Growth Art Center Home Show
by Tom di Maria and Catherine Nguyen
“Oakland is a sweet dark chocolate while San Francisco is the creamy milk chocolate city. It reminds me of a Hershey’s Symphony creamy milk chocolate bar–which comes in a king size.”
A Solo Flight to the Hangar: St. George Spirits in Alameda
by Risa Nye
One of the few things I miss about having kids in elementary school is going on field trips. Over the years, with three kids going through school, I went to a fire station in Berkeley, the Oakland Museum of California, the zoo, the little farm at Tilden Park, Crab Cove in Alameda, and the county courthouse in Martinez, among the more memorable places. But all that is in the past—or so I thought. Last week, I decided to take a grown-up field trip on my own—to a distillery. Continue reading
FORBIDDEN CITY, USA: Chinese American Nightclubs, 1936-1970
by Gary Meyer
After first seeing Arthur Dong’s movie FORBIDDEN CITY, USA, I wanted more of the eye-opening stories and images about the Bay Area’s fascinating Chinese American nightclubs. The film gave me a rich feel for the exotic atmosphere and the characters who made it a popular scene for all audiences. Now the book Forbidden City, USA: Chinese American Nightclubs, 1936-1970 has arrived and I cannot stop looking and reading. Continue reading
May 7: Lunch Love Community at the Brower Center
Lunch Love Community is an online documentary project offering shareable films, community engagement, and creative resources to inspire change in the way kids eat. This evening will include documentary shorts and lively discussion among filmmakers, educators, and food specialists about Berkeley’s role in food reform and food justice movements in area schools and neighborhoods. Continue reading
Film: CAFÉ REGULAR, CAIRO by Ritesh Batra
Ritesh Batra’s award-winning Arabic language short film CAFÉ REGULAR, CAIRO has screened at over 40 international film festivals and won 12 awards, including the FIPRESCI Critics Prize at the International Film Festival of Oberhausen and Special Mentions at the Tribeca International Film Festival and the Chicago International Film Festival. Continue reading