“Unnecessary Farce” Is Perfect Farce
Photo by Ryan Loyd, RYLO Media Design Perfection is a strong word—one not usually associated with silliness, mistaken identities, or slamming doors. But if you define it as “an…
Hawke Gives Heart to Hart in “Blue Moon”
In the film Blue Moon, director Richard Linklater has given actor Ethan Hawke a play-like stage for his performance as the musing musical lyricist Lorenz (Larry) Hart. Hart was the…
A Visually and Musically Stunning “Hansel and Gretel”
In my September interview with Opera SLO director Brian Asher Alhadeff regarding the company’s October production of Hansel and Gretel, I closed by noting “A ginormous gingerbread house and a…
Don’t Rush Through “The Secret Place”
It’s always inspiring to know that while we live in a relatively small town, our community is fortunate to have a museum that continues to welcome a variety of artists…
“Bonnie & Hyde” & Jekyll & Clyde & … Blanche?
Following its stellar 50th anniversary spectacular presented in August and September, The Great American Melodrama has returned to its usual fare—but not to the tried and true melodramas of the…
“Smashing Machine” Is a Contender
“Backward I see in my own days where I sweated through fog with linguists and contenders.” — Walt Whitman ("The Poet of Prizefighters") Audiences love stories about fighters, because the…
MTB Makes Southern Rock Come Alive
Certain rock 'n' roll genres have more staying power than others. Some, like yacht rock, went away for decades before recently making a triumphant return. Since the early 1970s, when…
A Warm Round of Applause for “Self-Help”
Near the beginning of Self-Help, one of the main characters—a beleaguered actor married to another actor—yearns for the satisfaction of “a warm round of applause.” Well, that’s what the cast…
Truth and Deception Inhabit “Eleanor the Great”
Eleanor the Great begins with two elderly women who are best friends waking up in their Florida home—a fitting beginning to a film that treads the lines between dreaming and…
“One Battle After Another” Evokes Hope
Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film stands as one of the best movies of the year. While watching One Battle After Another, I drew parallels to Eddington, Ari Aster’s newest film…