http://blog.dailycal.org/arts Keeping you up to date on the latest in arts & entertainment in the Bay Area and beyond. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:34:23 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Though his most famous films date back to past decades, with “Eraserhead” in 1977 and “Blue Velvet” in 1986, David Lynch has continued to produce art so starkly strange it cannot be ignored, right on into the new millennium. Lynch has tried his hand at many things–adaptation, television, stage musical. To ... http://blog.dailycal.org/arts/2009/11/post-4199/ Considering his penchant for scathing portraits of women, I'm really surprised Lars von Trier didn't lunge at the opportunity to direct "Precious." All of his heroines tend to have the standard heart-of-gold complex but tend to remain passive as people begin to take advantage. Rape, hanging, sliced genitals—von Trier's done ... http://blog.dailycal.org/arts/2009/11/post-4040/ Joel and Ethan Coen are two of the most talented and prolific filmmakers working today. In this decade alone, they have made seven feature-length films. The quality of their work varies in large part because they are willing to approach a wide range of challenging genres. They try their hand ... http://blog.dailycal.org/arts/2009/11/post-3943/ [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Fendy sunglass earmuffs. They're so hot right now!"][/caption] So far I've shied away from discussing fashion. I hesitate to grant it its own unique identity or pass it off under the umbrella term, "art." However, if art is the physical expression of one's soul and creativity, art ... http://blog.dailycal.org/arts/2009/11/post-4058/ Friends, I hope this weekend was a good one for you. If you read my column this week (as people occasionally do), your mind has hopefully been stretched and reformed into a more refined shape. You're thinking deep thoughts on the nature of art as a product, not as a process (which ... http://blog.dailycal.org/arts/2009/11/post-4045/ "I - drink - your - milkshake!" To merely call Daniel Plainview a caricature of the dark side of American capitalism would not do Daniel Day-Lewis' achievement in Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" enough justice. Metaphoric purposes aside, Plainview is a man capable of both ends of the human ... http://blog.dailycal.org/arts/2009/11/post-3866/ Peter Jackson made four epic fantasy films that defined the cinematic spectacle for the new decade. His films made the act of viewing a physical activity: His shortest film, “The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001), is three hours long; the extended cut of “The Return of the King” (2004) is ... http://blog.dailycal.org/arts/2009/11/post-3839/ Sometimes an unexpected collaboration can add up to a refreshing sum greater than its parts. Beyonce and Jay-Z's "Crazy in Love," M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel's She and Him, and John Legend and Andre 3000's "Green Light" all come to mind. Then there are the terrible ones. This list is dedicated ... http://blog.dailycal.org/arts/2009/11/post-3656/ At first is seemed like a bit of a long-shot: a drug and sex-infused musical based on the lives of troubled young adults set to the music of punk group Green Day. But with a talented cast and director Micheal Mayer (the guy behind "Spring Awakening"), and not to mention ... http://blog.dailycal.org/arts/2009/11/post-3667/ I had a memorable encounter with the brilliant screenwriter Charlie Kaufman last fall, at an early screening of his directorial debut, “Synecdoche, New York.” A Kaufman film is guaranteed to provide an exhausting amount of intellectual fodder, and as the film ended, I scribbled furiously in my notebook. Then I ... http://blog.dailycal.org/arts/2009/11/post-3674/