by Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
“I’ve never needed to watch a film three times at Sundance before…”
Shaken & Stirred: A Temporary Anarchist Communist Tequila State
Anarchy. Good god, y’all. What is it good for?
Today, in a very special Shaken & Stirred, I will attempt a triple threat: a movie, a drink, and a book. Be warned, all ye who enter, spoilers abound. Continue reading
Life in its Minutiae: Timothy Spall and Mike Leigh’s MR. TURNER
by Gregory Scharpen
It’s a little peculiar to start off a discussion of Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner by invoking Amir Bar-Lev’s recent documentary about Penn State football, Happy Valley . However, in a recent (admittedly somewhat freewheeling and wide-ranging) conversation with Bar-Lev, the notion of the “takeaway” of a film came up. Continue reading
The Margins: Good Film Hunting in the Bay Area in 2014
by Dennis Harvey
The lack of consensus so far amongst awards-giving groups has underlined 2014 as a cinematic year that lacked memorable popular standouts. That certainly doesn’t mean there weren’t a lot of fine movies released (though, as we’ll note below, fewer of them actually made it to the Bay Area). Continue reading
Holiday Rituals: What We Eat, Drink and Watch to Mark the Passing of a Year
by Cari Borja
Happiness is the longing for repetition.
—Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
How do we measure time? From those meaningful memories of the rituals (or repetitions) that punctuate our lives, to those more novel experiences that may over time become a ritual—we are not only what we celebrate but how. Continue reading
His & Hers Beer Notes: Pinchy Jeek (Anderson Valley Brewing Company)
by Daniel Barnes and Darcey Self-Barnes
8.5% ABV
Purchased at Taylor’s Market ($10.99/22 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses. Continue reading
The Bride of Deep Into Immersion Cinema Returns—The Final Act
By Gary Meyer
(Gary Meyer finishes his nostalgic journey through the many ways moviemakers and theater owners have tried to involve audiences beyond the story being told by movies. This week we visit several forms of interactive cinema from low tech to high tech—always creative, and plenty of fun. There are lots of bonuses after the article.
Click to read Parts One and Two.) Continue reading
Critics Corner: THE INTERVIEW
Read two critical perspectives on The Interview (Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen), by Joe Mader and Dennis Harvey. The Interview is playing now in the Bay Area and nationally—click here for a list of Bay Area theaters, and here for a list of screening venues across the US. It’s also available for streaming on YouTube. Continue reading
Le Holiday Feast
PRUNE: The Restaurant, the Book, and the Photography of Eric Wolfinger
by Cari Borja
He wrote me: I will have spent my life trying to understand the function of remembering, which is not the opposite of forgetting, but rather its lining. We do not remember, we rewrite memory much as history is rewritten. How can one remember thirst? — Chris Marker’s Sans Soleil , 1983
Shaken & Stirred: The Root Cause of a Cinematic Winter
Seasons. The ones that dictate how tasty your tomato will be (best in late summer), how excited you are for skiing (winter, natch), and how much of your time will be given over to griping (spring and fall: I’m looking at you, daylight savings time). These seasons present the garden-to-glass mixologist with a varied palette from which to choose. And now, in the winter, there are few choices offered. In the face of such adversity it is good to dig deep (farming pun intended) and make the best of it, so here comes my beet cocktail, Root Cause.
Continue reading