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07/31/08
Looking for the anti-blockbuster movie experience? You can't go wrong with Bottle Shock, a sweet little independent film that was shot up in Napa last year. The movie offers the "based on a true story" tale of how Napa came to the fine wine table—when, in 1976, some upstart Napa wineries bested acclaimed French wineries in a blind tasting. It's a feel-good, Rocky-for-wine lovers, little charmer that wears it's heart on its sleeve. For a small-budget film, Bottle Shock boasts an impressive cast, including Alan Rickman (Die Hard) as a British ex-pat who is running a failing Parisian wine shop, Bill Pullman (The Last Seduction, Zero Effect) as a stubborn Napa winemaker, and Freddie Rodriguez (Six Feet Under), as an...
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07/30/08
If you're watching TV tonight, make sure to tune into Bravo's series, Shear Genius. Concord salon owner Nekisa Addis is one of the 12 stylists from across the country cast in this reality show, which is essentially Project: Runway for hairstylists (In fact, Genius follows Runway at 10 p.m.) Addis is the only East Bay playa in the stylist smackdown, which is hosted by Jaclyn Smith of Charlie's Angels fame. In fact, tonight's episode has a Charlie's Angels theme, and Kate Jackson makes a guest appearance. Get ready for feathered flashbacks to the late 1970s! Addis wasn't at liberty to let me know how she did on the show. "I have not even told my mom and dad," she says with a laugh. She's getting noticed in public,...
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07/27/08
I'm sitting in the press box of the Oakland Coliseum (aka McAfee), watching the A's smack the Rangers around, and listening to the Dixie Chicks' "Lubbock or Leave It". Speaking of baseball and killer country music, on the elevator ride up to the press box, I ran into A's broadcaster Robert Buan, an East Bay resident who does a great job producing the A's radio broadcasts and hosts the very entertaining Extra Innings postgame program. Robert also hosts a cool radio show called Country Fastball, in which he talks with big league ballplayers about country music. The two-hour talk and tunes program is syndicated across 7 states, and can be heard in the Bay...
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07/25/08
Just came across this cool Bob Dylan outtake from his 1987 album, Knocked Out Loaded. The album is widely considered one of Dylan's worst, but it did contain the standout track, Brownsville Girl, an epic, sprawling song that was also included on Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume 3. Apparently, the working title of the song was "New Danville Girl." Check it out! Dylan's hero, Woody Guthrie, wrote a classic song named "Danville Girl." Don't know when Bob decided to change from the Woody homage to Brownsville, but I'll make sure to ask him if we run into one another.
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07/24/08
One of my favorite assignments this year was interviewing Beth Lisick, the hysterically funny Berkeley author and performance artist. If you haven't read her books Everybody Into The Pool and Helping Me Help Myself, pick them up—they are perfect summer reads. Beth just sent me a note that she and her friend Tara Jepsen are perfroming a comedy show in San Francisco, which kicks off tonight and runs through next weekend at the Center for Sex and Culture in San Francisco. Here's what Beth says about the show: Tara and I are gearing up for our show, Getting In On the Ground Floor and Staying There, a ten year retrospective of our comedic "career" together. We'll be doing bits from our lady duos Carole & Mitzi, Miriam & Helen, and...
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07/24/08
I'm halfway through season one of Mad Men on dvd, hoping to get through it before the premiere of season two this Sunday. Have you seen this show? It's amazing! It's like The Best of Everything, Twin Peaks, and The Sopranos wrapped up into one delicious hour. Big props to AMC for its foray into original programming. For the uninformed, Mad Men is about the world of early 1960s Madison Avenue advertsing executives, and features some of the coolest set decorations and art design I've ever seen on television. The melodramatic story arc involves ad exec Don Draper (Jon Hamm), his secret identity, the sinister side of the Leave it to Beaver suburbs, sexist office politics, three martini lunches, and oh, so much more. Here's
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07/23/08
Tri-Valley resident Donna Garrison just let me know that Full Grown Men, a new feature film she produced, is premiering this weekend at the lumiere Theater in San Francisco. While I haven't seen the film, I have to say I'm quite impressed by the cast—especially Debbie Harry, one of my fave divas and indie actresses of all time. Also, Judah Friedlander, so good on 30 Rock and in the brilliant American Splendor, is always watchable. Information about the opening below: FULL GROWN MEN
The Sundance Channel Undiscovered Gems Audience Award-Winning Comedy
by local filmmakers
David Munro, Xandra Castleton, and Brian Benson
Starring Matt McGrath, Judah Friedlander, Alan Cumming, Amy Sedaris & Debbie Harry
San Francisco...
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07/23/08
I'm watching much more TV content online these days than on the old fashioned boob tube. One of my favorite shows is the Daily Show, Comedy Central's brilliant news and politics satire. I missed this clip when it aired back in March, when the Daily Show sent a correspondant to cover the controversy at the Marine recruiting office in downtown Berkeley. Let's just say the clip doesn't help dissolve the stereotype about Berkeley's hippie population...very funny stuff!
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07/22/08
Everybody's all hyped up about Batman and rightfully so: The Dark Knight is the most spectacular big budget blockbuster to come around in a long, long time. But if you're a mystery lover like me, you'll want to check out the French thriller Tell No One, playing now at the Albany Cinema and the Embarcadero in San Francisco. Hopefully, it will come to the Orinda or the Pleasant Hill Cinearts soon, as a film this smart and entertaining will find an audience in CoCoCounty. The movie is based on a novel by American author Harlan Coben, who collaborated on the screenplay with writer/director Guillaume Canet. The densely plotted story revolves around a doctor, whose wife was murdered...perhaps...eight years earlier. The doctor had been a suspect in his wife's murder,...
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07/17/08
Halfway through an early screening of the Dark Knight, the sensational new Batman movie by British director Christopher Nolan, the picture went dark and the film stopped. A half filled IMAX theater of critics and entertainment insiders booed and hissed the faux pas like a batch of petulant babies. But not me. I sat in the theater quietly, trying to absorb the 90 or so minutes of brilliance I had witnessed, when I realized that my heart was literally pounding from the suspense that Nolan had been cranking from the film's first scene. This is not your typical summer blockbuster. Dark, brooding, and best for adults (or older teens), The Dark Knight feels more like A Clockwork Orange or Silence of the Lambs than it does your...
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07/15/08
Up until Friday, my favorite film of 2008 was WALL*E, without question. Then I saw the sensational new documentary, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, which shot up my year's best list to the number one spot. (Since logging it, I've seen Hellboy 2 and The Dark Knight, and it will take me a little while to decompress these fantastic entertainment pieces). Gonzo focuses on Thompson's influence as a writer, then explores his place in larger popular culture. Particularly gripping is the content surrounding the creation of Thomspon's most "gonzo" works of journalism: The late 1960s book Hell's Angels, and the classics Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72....
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07/10/08
I'm a huge Stones fan, having seen countless stadium shows over the past 15 years. I'm also a huge fan of the documentary film Gimme Shelter, which follows the Stones on their 1969 concert tour, which ended badly (at least for some), when a Vallejo man was stabbed to death by Hell's Angels at a free concert at the Altamont Speedway in Livermore. Gimme Shelter is a must-see, particulalry fascinating from my perspective because the free concert at Altamont occurred when I was something like 14 days old, living in Lafayette. I always tell people, "I was going to go...but couldn't get a ride." Anyway, the Stones are a treasure trove of rock history, which brings me to a fantastic photography exhibit that kicks off this weekend in San Francisco. Check out...
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07/09/08
Chris Isaak's sold-out concert at Wente Vineyards was a treat from start to finish—this Stockton natve's annual pilgrimmage to this swanky Livermore concert venue has become one of the East Bay's most pleasant summer traditions. As Isaak took the stage, a sweltering sun mercifully set, and a balmy evening ensued. Dressed in a Nudie-esque blue suit (Isaak joked that he saw it on late night Mexican television and just had to have it) and accompanied by his longtime band, Isaak tore through a two hour set of his retro rockers and sad love songs, peppered with his trademark wiseguy humor. Isaak also played four new songs off an unreleased, upcoming album, all of which sounded great, particularly a Jackson Browne-sounding rocker that followed his biggest hit, "Wicked...
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07/07/08
When I was a youngster in Diabloland, the ultimate trip to the movies was a matinee in the Dome—the giant screen off the Monument exit, visible from I-680. Even with the comforts of todays megplexes (stadium seating, etc.), seeing a film in the dome still brings a childlike thrill. (Maybe this is because the most recent movie I went to see there was Wanted, which was made for 12-year-old boys in grown-up bodies.) I am pleased to notice that the people running the Dome are booking kid movies on Tuesday's at 10 a.m.—this Tuesday's flick is Racing Stripes. Click on this link for more information.
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07/02/08
If you're looking for a fun evening of low key entertainment, remember that Diabloland has one of the last drive-in theaters still open or business. I have a blast everytime I go. This weekend, they're showing WALL*E with Get Smart and Hancock with The Incredible Hulk.
Here's my write up from the July Best of the East Bay issue
Cheap Dinner And A Movie
Editor Pick → If you’re tired of spending $75 on popcorn and movie tickets for family night at the multiplex, here’s a dinner and movie option where you get your money’s worth. First, call in an order of crispy tacos at Los Panchos taqueria in Pacheco. Filled with shredded chicken or ground beef, cheese, and lettuce, they go...
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07/01/08
I recently watched both The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, as these '80s favorites received print remasters and limited theatrical re-releases. I had somehow missed these movies when they came out in their initial release, but they're both well worth a look, thanks to epic puppet and animation work by the man-behind-the Muppets, Jim Henson. Tonight, July 1, Labyrinth will screen at 9:15 at Oakland's Parkway Theater (the original Bay Area pizza pub cinema), as a benefit for Health Initiatives for Youth. More information here at the Parkway Website
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