This is a lyrical and magnificent film, adapted from a literary source (a memoir by Jane Hawking). Rich in character and dialogue, “The Theory of Everything” is primarily a romance wrapped around a chronicle of a brilliant and beautiful mind trapped in a malfunctioning body. This film is a narrative of heartbreak, marital and emotional...
“Peaky Blinders”—A View of Injustice
Peaky Blinders
This BBC television drama series starring the amazing Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby, the leader of the Peaky Blinders gang, is Britain’s answer to “Boardwalk Empire”. Netflix released the first six episodes comprising Season One this past September and the next six of Season Two in November. Taking place immediately after the...
“Whiplash”—Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum
Whiplash
For lovers of jazz music and of stories dealing with young artists trying to find their way, this 2014 movie has it all.
A young drummer, Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller) is accepted into Shaffer Conservatory, one of the best music schools in the country and yearns for the approval of Terence Fletcher, the school’s intimidating and...
Keith Haring (1958-1990): The Political Line (November 8-February 16, 2015)
Many of the works in this comprehensive exhibit at the De Young Museum (San Francisco) are being publicly presented for the first time, several on loan from the Keith Haring Foundation, Brooklyn, New York, [In March 2012, a retrospective exhibit of Haring’s work, Keith Haring: 1978-1982, opened at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. See my...
Ai Weiwei—Without a Trace
With Wind
The extraordinary @Large Ai Weiwei exhibit is now part of the daily tour to Alcatraz by ferry (Pier 33). Ai Weiwei, 57 years old, whose art raises questions about freedom of expression and human rights, has served several prison sentences in China. This major installation invites viewer participation.
Alcatraz
Several of the...
FWD—Fishing with Dynamite
Hamachi
I first learned about this restaurant in Manhattan Beach (Los Angeles) in a January 22, 2014 New York Times review. It is amazing that such a tiny restaurant in a beachy little neighborhood received coverage from the premier East Coast cognoscenti.
First and foremost, Fishing with Dynamite is a knockout—East Coast meets West Coast for...
