Elect to Laugh 2016: Again and again
Quick to connect with the audience, Will Durst alternates knowing insults and ego stokes, always taking the audience’s pulse.
Culture
Explore San Francisco and Bay Area culture through theater reviews, film, contemporary art, and creative events. Featuring original artwork by Loni Stark, film reviews by Jeanne Powell, and insights by ATCA member Clinton Stark.
Deep thoughts with ‘Neon Demon’ director Nicolas Winding Refn
Ah Refn. Does this guy know how to rattle chains or what? Director Nicolas Winding Refn’s (NWR!) latest film The Neon Demon was all the buzz…
Romantic comedy ‘Maggie’s Plan’ a surprise highlight at SFIFF (Review)
A surprise highlight of the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, Maggie’s Plan provides an intriguing take on romantic comedies. Single and hearing her biological…
San Francisco: Summer with the Symphony line-up revealed
Star Trek, Pink Martini, Ratatouille with live orchestra, music from the Final Fantasy video game series. San Francisco Symphony's Summer Series is stocked to the…
‘Last Five Years’ a sleeper hit at A.C.T. San Francisco (Review)
The imaginative geometries created by Roberts Wierzel’s lighting design are so striking that whole dissertations could be directed at explicating how their crisp precision advances…
‘Neon Demon’ Reaction: Makes ‘Showgirls’ look like Bergman (Cannes 2016)
UPDATE: Indiewire, which published its own review of Neon Demon by Eric Kohn, has a round-up of early reviews, many of which are very positive.…
SFIFF Standout Cinema: ‘Neither Heaven Nor Earth’ and ‘Les Cowboys’
The 59th edition of the San Francisco International Film Festival wrapped earlier this month, and, once again, did not disappoint, bringing to the big screen international,…
Stark Insider and RED Raven: BTS ‘All American Apple Pie’ shoot
Loni was back from London. And it was the weekend. Clearly, that could mean only one thing: time to test the new RED Raven camera.…
Another shot of Helen Pickett’s choreography with the Smuin Ballet’s current offering
This piece, which speaks to a sense of loss and dislocation, is not without bits of complete silliness. Performed by six dancers, it relies on…
Director Nicolas Winding Refn on ‘Neon Demon’ Set: “Violence, motherf***ers!”
“Violence, motherf***ers!” Well, that’s an interesting alternative to shouting, “Action!” on set. Nicolas Winding Refn is laying it all on the line. Next week, when…