A good twist can save an episode. Such is the case in “Brave Heart.” With the Dibala drama over, Chase struggles with the fact that he, you know, killed a man, while House believes that he’s hearing things. But the best moment comes in the medical mystery (Click here to read more…)

Morning sunshines,

I hope your Halloweens all were spectacular. Me, I didn’t get too much of a Halloween, on account of having to get up at the crack of dawn (4:30am) to drive to the San Francisco Half Marathon. It was fun, but seriously?

Anyway, my column last week was a (for me, at least) loving profile of a person whose view on art online is completely opposed to mine. I’m for art made through community, and she says that community devours art.

It took me quite a few tumblr pages to find everything I needed to write that column. Below, you will find them attached.

Where I started: Kung Fu Grippe

Where that led me: A guy on my side (sorta)

And then to Theremina herself, the source of the argument.

This might help for context: some sort of skeleton

This tumblr thing can suck away lives. Be careful where you click!

NSFW (language/cartoon gore)

When the Kanye West/Spike Jonze collaboration, “We Were Once a Fairytale,” first cropped up on blogs a few weeks back, I was curious but always too busy to watch the ten-minute clip. Then a friend insisted I check it out, proclaiming it proof that Kanye “really is the voice of this generation.”

So I checked it out. And . . . wow. Just wow. Stop what you’re doing and watch it. Unless you’re at work/in class, because it’s a little bit grody. (Click here to read more…)

November 6th presents a dilemma for Bay Area cinephiles, who—due to the annoying fact that people can only be in one place at one time—must choose among three excellent programs at three different theaters. At the Paramount Theatre, a gorgeous Art Deco movie palace near the 19th Street BART station in Oakland, there is a screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Dial M for Murder” (1954). I recommend getting to the theater early so you can explore the huge, luxurious lobby.

In Berkeley, PFA is screening Alain Resnais’ “Last Year at Marienbad” (1961), one of the most beautiful, confounding movies I have ever seen. The film’s camerawork is stunning: Imagine a precursor to “The Shining,” with the camera slowly wandering through a mostly vacant château’s hallways. What is the purpose of the film? Is it a visual depiction of someone reckoning with her memories? Or is it a truly post-modern work that’s only concerned with surfaces—that is, is it a film without meaning? “Last Year at Marienbad” is rarely screened in 35mm projection, so be sure to check it out. (Click here to read more…)

What’s better than reality TV?

A lot of things, but tonight and tomorrow night at 8 p.m., one very important one will be gliding over heart strings and plucking at souls in Berkeley’s very own Hertz Hall. That’s right, the University Symphony Orchestra will be performing and, from the looks of this weekend’s program, they’ll also be completely ignoring Halloween.

No “Night on Bald Mountain,” for these presumably un-costumed folks, led by conductor David Milnes, who probably won’t be wearing a costume either. But maybe they’ve got a few tricks up their sleeves for Saturday. We don’t know. Maybe Milnes will dress up as a “conductor” and wear like a train driver costume or something. Get it? Like another kind of conductor. Because he’s the conductor. That’d be clever. Right?

Anyway, I digress. The orchestra will play Rachmaninoff’s “Symphony No. 2,” Ernest Bloch’s “Suite Hebraique,” and Bloch’s “Concerto Grosso for strings and piano.” It’s only $5 for students, and even if classical music isn’t really your bag, man, it’s still sometimes fun to go relax and hear something you might not ever hear otherwise.

Rachmaninov - André Previn - Symphony No.2 Mvt.4 (3/3) [YouTube]
University Symphony Orchestra [Dept. of Music Calendar]

Any film whose premise centers on the cultish appeal of kitschy mediums faces an enormous challenge: How can a film be good when it is quite literally about crap? This is the question that went through my head while watching Jared Hess’ new film “Gentlemen Broncos” at the Landmark Embarcadero Center Cinema last Monday, with Hess and his wife and screenwriter, Jerusha, in the audience.

Once again, Hess has an awkward, “Napoleon Dynamite”-style protagonist—a young, pulp science fiction writer named Benjamin (Michael Angarano). The film suffers from a lackluster screenplay, but Hess exacerbates its weaknesses by bringing to the foreground the sci-fi genre’s crudest elements. There is no cussing in the film (the Hesses are Mormons), but there are an awful lot of breast, penis and fart jokes, and gags involving shit and vomiting. This is the kind of film that would appeal to viewers who find a snake ejecting a stream of shit all over its nonchalant owner funny. (Click here to read more…)

I agonized over a pun headline for this post–”Let’s Twit It On,” “You Only Twit Once,” “Tweet Home Alabama,” “Twit Up, Twit On Up” . . . you get the picture. The point is, the Daily Californian Arts Department has its very own twitter!!!!

Follow us, and you’ll find: (Click here to read more…)

At what point to historical relics become art? For this post, the word “art” as I’m using it means something that is worthy of thought, an appreciation for the time and place in which something is produced, and acknowledging the care with which it was executed. Under this definition, a doodle you scribbled with a Crayola in your fist at age three or the lampshade your grandmother decorated with seashells and glass to sell at a souvenir shop in lobster country have the potential to become a work of art.

I was inspired by this notion when I paid a visit to Sherman co-op this weekend. Amidst a whirl of warm color that otherwise covered the mantle above the fireplace, my eyes zeroed in on two clear-cut figures occupying a black and white photograph, housed by a Lucite frame. “Who’s that?” I asked my hostess. (Click here to read more…)

Little-known fact: best-selling author Jonathan Lethem used to work at Moe’s Books. Now a celebrated novelist and noted Philip K. Dick fanatic, Lethem wrote his first novel while working at the beloved local shop, according to the Moe’s website.

Later this week, he’ll be returning to his old haunt for a reading (and maybe a signing?). Stop by the store on Thursday, October 29, at 7:30 to hear him read from his new novel “Chronic City.” This one’s set in New York, and he’s a New York writer by reputation, though his first couple of novels are set in NorCal. “Gun, With Occasional Music,” which I’ve been meaning to read for some time, takes place in SF and Oakland, according to Wikipedia.

I’ve seen Lethem speak before–on C-SPAN 2, oddly enough, not in person–and he’s engaging and clever, so this event should be fun. Besides, when was the last time you went to a reading?

More info on the Moe’s Readings & Events Page here.

Image source: Onion AV Club, photo by Peter Bellamy.

Every October Neil Young and his wife Pegi put on The Bridge School Benefit Concert at the Shoreline Amphitheatre to raise funds for the bay area Bridge School, which since its opening in 1986 has provided specialized education to severely disabled children. Young has invited various A-list entertainers to the mostly acoustic concert over the years, and this past weekend was no different. The bill this year ranged across genres, hosting Young himself, No Doubt, Chris Martin of Cold Play, Sheryl Crow, Adam Sandler, Monsters of Folk, Wolfmother and more.

The all-day show left the earlier acts with a little less support as concert goers drunkenly mingled throughout the large venue’s bars, food tents and recreational areas. But Monsters of Folk didn’t seem to care as they strummed and wailed away. The group played some original tracks and even a song from member Conor Oberst’s other band, Bright Eyes (a nice emo treat). (Click here to read more…)