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Spencer Finch makes art of light at Berggruen
Spencer Finch makes art of light at Berggruen
There are words a critic should use advisedly. “Entrancing” might be one. But how else to describe art that, like the most delicate Japanese haiku, creates a mood or sensation with barely a few light ...
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BBC assassination drama ‘Killing Eve’ mixes humor amid mayhem
We all want job satisfaction, right? To go home at night, put our feet up and feel we’ve accomplished something at work that day? So is it really wrong for a young woman to take pleasure in her job, even ...
Oakland’s Anthony Marra wins $50,000 Simpson Prize for mid-career authors
There are mid-career slumps, and there are mid-career boosts. Anthony Marra is benefiting from the latter. The Oakland author has won the Simpson Family Literary Prize, which is awarded to writers in the ...
As S.F. Ballet readies for festival, Canadian company gives its all in ‘Nijinsky’
After a decade’s absence, the National Ballet of Canada is back in town, bearing somewhat rarefied gifts, as it fills in for the San Francisco Ballet.
Stunning new ‘Howards End’ connects with social change
“Only connect.” The words are spoken in E.M. Forster’s timeless masterpiece, “Howards End,” by Ruth Wilcox, the matriarch of the wealthy family that shares the stage in the thrilling four-part ...
Contemporary ballet troupe celebrates 35th anniversary
This year is the 35th anniversary of Alonzo King Lines Ballet. The troupe launches the performance season with a new ballet in collaboration with Indian musician Zakir Hussain . The new work, to be ...
David Coulter brings sound of saw to Kronos Festival
David Coulter , the idiosyncratic British multi-instrumentalist and composer whose associates include the Kronos Quartet , Tom Waits , Yoko Ono and the novelist Khaled Hosseini , was riding the Paris ...
Pop Quiz: Beach Boys’ Al Jardine trips through the past on...
Al Jardine, original founding member of the Beach Boys, has seen it all. For more than the past five decades, the diminutive blond singer and rhythm guitarist has stood at the center of the drama that has ...
‘Baja’: road comedy quickly goes south
“Baja,” an uninspired comedy about an RV, road trip and resort, tries hard to be madcap and magical, but the story has so many moving parts — and so little pizzazz — that things go south quickly. ...
Deftly curated images from singular RFK funeral train at SFMOMA
Though most museum visitors are only vaguely aware of the fact, what we see in exhibitions often expresses the vision of a single person, or a very small group. Subject to various approvals and safeguards, ...
Cutting Ball’s ‘Timon’ makes Shakespeare feel suspenseful
It’s not hard to see why “Timon of Athens” seldom piques producers’ interest. The play, which Shakespeare probably wrote with Thomas Middleton, follows an overgenerous aristocrat who gives away all ...
‘Hunting the Truth: Memoirs of Beate and Serge Klarsfeld’
Will we know when the very last of World War II’s Nazis passes away? What about the ones who changed their names, escaped to distant countries or hid in plain sight, the ones who managed to live with ...
Don't Miss
BBC assassination drama ‘Killing Eve’ mixes humor amid mayhem
We all want job satisfaction, right? To go home at night, put our feet up and feel we’ve accomplished something at work that day? So is it really wrong for a young woman to take pleasure in her job, even ...
Oakland’s Anthony Marra wins $50,000 Simpson Prize for mid-career authors
There are mid-career slumps, and there are mid-career boosts. Anthony Marra is benefiting from the latter. The Oakland author has won the Simpson Family Literary Prize, which is awarded to writers in the ...
As S.F. Ballet readies for festival, Canadian company gives its all in ‘Nijinsky’
After a decade’s absence, the National Ballet of Canada is back in town, bearing somewhat rarefied gifts, as it fills in for the San Francisco Ballet.
Stunning new ‘Howards End’ connects with social change
“Only connect.” The words are spoken in E.M. Forster’s timeless masterpiece, “Howards End,” by Ruth Wilcox, the matriarch of the wealthy family that shares the stage in the thrilling four-part ...
Contemporary ballet troupe celebrates 35th anniversary
This year is the 35th anniversary of Alonzo King Lines Ballet. The troupe launches the performance season with a new ballet in collaboration with Indian musician Zakir Hussain . The new work, to be ...
Featured Columnists
San Francisco International Film Festival raises issues about...
Blossoms were coming up, rain was coming down, spring was in the air, and also offspring. “A Kid Like Jake” opened the San Francisco International Film Festival on Wednesday, April 4; the next night’s movie was “I Hate Kids.” “A Kid Like Jake” is about the parents (played by ...
Ask Mick LaSalle: Were intimate scenes of Jennifer Lawrence in...
Dear Mr. LaSalle : What struck me about “Red Sparrow” was the number of times that the camera framed and followed Jennifer Lawrence when she was wearing only a teddy or negligee. It seemed to me that the director’s interest was purely prurient, because none of these (about four) scenes ...
Spencer Finch makes art of light at Berggruen
There are words a critic should use advisedly. “Entrancing” might be one. But how else to describe art that, like the most delicate Japanese haiku, creates a mood or sensation with barely a few light gestures? The art of Spencer Finch is like that. The subject of a substantial exhibition ...
BBC assassination drama ‘Killing Eve’ mixes humor amid mayhem
We all want job satisfaction, right? To go home at night, put our feet up and feel we’ve accomplished something at work that day? So is it really wrong for a young woman to take pleasure in her job, even if her job is killing random strangers for a price? “Killing Eve” is a new drama ...
Pop Quiz: Kelley Deal on how sobriety saved the Breeders, and...
The Breeders have gone through several lineup changes, but this year sees the return of the one that made the biggest splash, with 1993’s platinum-selling “Last Splash.” Composed of twins Kelley and Kim Deal (formerly of the Pixies) on guitar and vocals, accompanied by bassist Josephine ...
Martuni’s: The Castro District bar you own by walking in
The lights are so dim inside Martuni’s piano bar on the edge of the Castro district that it’s nearly impossible to get a good look at Skip Ziobron zipping from one cocktail table to another. The 62-year-old owner of Martuni’s, clad in his uniform of white dress shirt and black slacks, ...
A midlife crisis has its sweet moments
In this column, I’ve talked about Mordecai’s midlife crisis, which consisted of him getting a divorce from red meat. I have not discussed my own midlife crisis, which consisted of me buying a piano. Why? Men my age shop for either a Corvette or a 20-year-old, but I couldn’t afford the ...
Lovely sounds in the middle of the night
I was lying in bed a few nights ago and checked the clock. It was 3 a.m. and I was wide awake. Since I had already solved all the world’s problems, I began thinking about what subject I could tackle for this week’s column. I had nothing. My deadline was fast approaching, and I had no ...
Learning to unplug
In the first grade, when my class acted out “The Ugly Duckling,” I was the narrator, selected to read the book out loud. To my surprise, when we filed into the meeting room, my mother was seated in the audience. She gave me a huge smile, her lipstick bright. Busy at her lab, she never ...