Year: 2011

“The Help”– “Telling the Truth Can Be a Revolutionary Act”

Written by diana on September 27, 2011. Posted in movie reviews. 7 Comments on “The Help”– “Telling the Truth Can Be a Revolutionary Act”

Based upon the best-selling 2009 novel by Kathryn Stockett, “The Help” is a vision of a divided America that is consistent, sometimes terrifying, in its insulting, insinuating dehumanization of African Americans. This movie is also easy-to-like –problematic but ultimately winning–and has now earned a huge $154.4 million...

“The Debt”–Did We See the Same Movie?

Written by diana on September 20, 2011. Posted in movie reviews. 4 Comments on “The Debt”–Did We See the Same Movie?

In this remake of a popular 2007 Israeli movie, the genre label “espionage thriller” is an understatement. The movie opens in 1997, as shocking news reaches retired Mossad agents Rachel and Stefan (married to each other but now divorced.) Then “The Debt” moves quickly and chillingly between the 1960’s and...

“The Fighter”–A Knockout

Written by diana on September 11, 2011. Posted in movie reviews. 3 Comments on “The Fighter”–A Knockout

The 2010 blockbuster and critics’ darling, “The Fighter”, won Academy Awards for best supporting actor (an astounding Christian Bale) and best supporting actress (the masterful Melissa Leo). However, I hate boxing movies, especially the tawdry “doormat turned boxing champion” variety we have seen in movies like...

Lolo Restaurant–What’s not to like?

Written by diana on September 7, 2011. Posted in Restaurants.

A few weeks ago we dined at a very small Mexican/Spanish fusion restaurant–Lolo (3234 22nd Street, San Francisco)– that had an innovative menu of succulent morsels, aka tapas, that even foodies like us could find nothing to criticize. This tiny, dark restaurant with cramped tables seating no more than 45 people had friendly...

Picasso–Multiple Images of the Master

Written by diana on August 30, 2011. Posted in Art, Unhealed Wound. 5 Comments on Picasso–Multiple Images of the Master

Opening on June 11 and closing on October 9, the deYoung Museum in San Francisco continues to host an exhibition of more than 100 masterpieces of Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) from Paris’s world-renowned Musée National Picasso. The Bay Area exhibition is made possible only because of the Musée’s temporary closing for extensive remodeling. I...