Bet you didn’t even notice it was gone. But as releases are starting to get interesting an plentiful again, this feature is about to make a triumphant return. We hope.

Anyway, this week is a crazy one for music releases. Where to start? Well, there is no better place than the artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince, whose latest release is a triple-decker bundle of joy comprised of two of his albums and one album that he produced but isn’t actually his. Critics took best to Lotusflower and didn’t dislike MPLsound but weren’t fully impressed with either. But what about Bria Valente, that new artist he produced? Were they pleased? Not so much.

I wish I could talk about all of these releases in depth, but frankly, I would be here all night and you would stop reading after this line, if you already hadn’t. So here are the other notable releases with Metacritic links, if they exist yet: Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ apparently exquisite It’s Blitz, Keith Urban’s Defying Gravity, Queensryche’s American Soldier, Diana Krall’s Quiet Nights, and Peter, Bjorn and John’s Living Thing, Bow Wow’s New Jack City II (his first parental advisory-blessed album! Get excited!), Flo Rida’s R.O.O.T.S., and  San Francisco natives Pansy Divison’s That’s So Gay. Most of these albums will be reviewed next Monday in the Daily Cal, so be on the lookout for that.

It looks like Berkeley Rep has again caught the eye of the New York Times.

The story this time around revolves around a simple but seemingly odd question: Does Green Day dare to follow in the footsteps of ABBA?

In short, whether you like it or not, the mainstream punk anthems of your early teens will now be glorified in the form of musical theater. That’s right: A Green Day Musical in the works, and it is based off of the 2004 Album American Idiot—in both score and plot. The show is set to debut at Berkeley Rep next fall. Quite appropriate, since Green Day got their start in Berkeley after all. In the wake of the hugely popular “Mamma Mia!”, the musical (and now movie) whose score is comprised entirely of ABBA songs, there seems to be a trend where popular musicians make musicals out of their repertoire. There’s “We Will Rock You,” the Queen Musical; “Movin’ Out,” the Billy Joel Musical; “Tommy,” the Who musical, and probably many more. In January, there was even some chatter that Michael Jackson will be collaborating on a Thriller musical. Geesh. (Click here to read more…)

Before I get into the business of analyzing box-shaped offices, I would like to share a conversation from my break:

A: “So I hear ‘Monsters Vs. Aliens’ is getting some pretty big hype.”
B: “Didn’t they already make ‘Alien Vs. Predator’? Is this a sequel?”
A: “… yeah, something like that.”

Now let me flawlessly segue into the numbers: As you may have no doubt inferred from my subtle anecdote, Dreamwork’s “Monsters Vs. Aliens” was the king of this weekend’s hill, raising $58.2 million. I’m impressed, and if I were more highly paid I would throw in bit of economic gibberish about inferior goods in recessive economies, but I’m not so I won’t. Kudos to Dreamworks. You aren’t quite Pixar, but I doubt many people still care.

“The Haunting in Connecticut” gets the silver wreath of the latter spring-break weekend, making a round $23 million. I didn’t see it so I can’t compare it to films like “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” and “An American Haunting,” all which vie for the “scariest film based on a true story” prize, but I can see certain patterns begin to emerge from the smoke. You can almost mix-and-match the titles, which is telling.

Oh, both of those films opened this weekend. The next three are all sophomores: “Knowing” in third with $14.7 million, “I Love You, Man” in fourth with $12.6 million, and “Duplicity” in fifth with $7.6 million. (Click here to read more…)

For those of you who weren’t willing to plop down a chunk of change (the most expensive tickets sold at over $1000) to see actor Ian McKellen (a.k.a Gandalf) as King Lear at UCLA last fall two years ago, or for those of you who could afford that but sadly found all of the performances sold out, I have great news: Do not despair!

Tonight, television and theater will join forces in the form of public broadcasting to bring the coveted performance to the masses. A version adapted for the small screen will be aired at 8 p.m. as on your local PBS station (that’s KQED TV9/HD for the Bay Area) as a part of the “Great Performances” series. That’s right: Thanks to support from “viewers like you” (and The Royal Shakespeare Company and expert director Trevor Nunn) we can all enjoy what promises to be a compelling version of one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies. And don’t worry, I’ve heard tell that the performance has been edited so that Sir Ian McKellen does not appear completely nude, as he did in the stage version. That might be just too much for the kids at home.

I am so excited for this–I think I will be able to stomach missing “Lost.”

EDIT: Updated for accuracy.

Image Source: telegraph.co.uk

For this week’s featured show, direct your attention a few blocks south of campus to the quaint Ashby Stage, which is exactly one BART stop, a 10-minute bus ride or a 25 minute walk away.

Fresh off a local hit with their interpretation of “Macbeth,” The Shotgun Players will be kicking off their 2009 season with British playwright David Hare’s 1995 play, “Skylight.” Well known in Britain and the world over, David Hare is well-decorated for his many contributions to modern theater–”Skylight” alone was nominated for a Tony for Best Play in 1997 and was awarded an Olivier Award (the London version of the Tonys) for Best New Play in 1996. He is also a knight, so that’s Sir David Hare to the rest of us commoners. Not to mention he received an Oscar nod just this year for Best Original Screenplay. He wrote a little movie called “The Reader.” Maybe you’ve heard of it?

“Skylight”–contrary to what its title may suggest–is not a play about effective ways of saving energy while enjoying natural lighting. It is a play about the entangled relationships between three people: a young woman, the married man she once had an affair with, and his son. Let the awkwardness, sticky situations, and confusing emotions unfold.

(Click here to read more…)

Since 1980’s “Permanent Vacation,” Jim Jarmusch has contributed no shortage of tour-de-force works to the American independent cinema movement: the avant-garde comedy “Stranger Than Paradise,” the psychedelic Western “Dead Man” and his latest, the poetic drama “Broken Flowers.” Recently, the idiosyncratic filmmaker teamed up with Isaach de Bankole, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Gael Garcia Bernal to complete his tenth feature film, entitled “The Limits of Control.”

A lone wolf felon (Bankole) takes on a new hit job in Spain, buoyed by his own rigid honor code and impervious to the influence of others around him--or so it seems. The teaser doesn’t answer too many questions, paints an atmosphere of ominous portent and screams pure Jarmusch. Oh, and did I mention that legendary D.P. Christopher Doyle is handling camera duties? It’s a cinephiliac’s dream come true.

These are exciting times over at Berkeley Rep. Last week it was announced that Sarah Ruhl’s comedy about Victorian-era sex and electricity, “In the Other Room (or the Vibrator Play)” (also a past Opening of the Week), has  been picked up by the Lincoln Center Theater on Broadway. That’s right, Broadway, the big leagues.

“The Vibrator Play” premiered at Berkeley Rep in February of this year and generated a buzz amongst audience members and critics alike for it’s satiric humor and engaging romance. It also piqued a bit of interest nationally, when the New York Times decided to review it–probably giving the show the attention it needed to catch the eye of Broadway.  Having just closed in Berkeley, “The Vibrator Play” will be produced in New York next fall. There’s no word  yet on whether any members of the original Berkeley cast will appear in the new version, but Les Waters, the associate artistic directer at Berkeley Rep, will be making his Broadway debut with the production.

Congratulations to Berkeley Rep!

Image Source: Kevin Berne

Turns out “Revolutionary Road” was only the beginning. Fresh off the success of last year’s DiCaprio-Winslet vehicle, director Sam Mendes has recently completed work on another film about couples (a comedy, no less!) “Away We Go” stars John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph and Maggie Gyllenhaal, amongst others, in a story of an expectant couple traveling the U.S. in search of an ideal place to raise a family. Film is slated for a limited theatrical release beginning June 5.

Riding the current wave of pre-spring break student-run shows that have played on campus in the last few weeks is an intriguing production that has been more than a year in the making– a classic work brought to Durham Studio Theater by a dedicated group of students.  When I say classic I don’t mean classic like “Gone With the Wind” or Coca Cola; I mean classic as in old and Greek, as in ‘The Classics Department.’ The show is of course Euripides’  tragedy, “Hippolytus.”  Here’s the catch: It’s all performed in Ancient Greek, with the English translations projected above the stage. How many people even get to hear ancient Greek pronounced in their lifetimes? Not too many. It gets even better–tickets are 100 percent free.

(Click here to read more…)

Opening this week at the Lumiere Theatre in San Francisco and Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley is Nikita Mikhalkov’s masterful courtroom drama “12.” I urge you all to see it—hose of you who enjoyed Sidney Lumet’s “12 Angry Men” will find that it’s not only a reverential update of the original but also a fascinating look at contemporary Russian society and aspects of human nature that both unite and divide.

Speaking of quality foreign language films: If you haven’t had the chance to experience the Swedish vampire flick “Let the Right One In” yet, do yourself a favor and catch it at the Parkway Theater in Oakland before its run ends. Tomas Alfredson’s work stands as the most remarkable novel-to-screen adaptation of 2008, as well as one of last year’s very best films.

On a last note, I regrettably omit the remastered version of Francois Truffaut’s 1970 gem “The Wild Child” from the following list, as its limited one-week engagement ended on March 12. My apologies for not covering it sooner.

Without further ado, I present to you two other must-see films now playing in Bay Area theaters: (Click here to read more…)