Arts: It's What's for Blog
Keeping you up to date on the latest in Arts & Entertainment.
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Identity in Trouble: The Decade in David Lynch
Though his most famous films date back to past decades, with “Eraserhead” in 1977 and “Blue Velvet” in 1986, David Lynch has continued to produce art so starkly strange it cannot be ignored, right on into the new millennium. Lynch has tried his hand at many things–adaptation, television, stage music …
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A Jackass of Cinema: The Decade in Lars von Trier
Considering his penchant for scathing portraits of women, Im really surprised Lars von Trier didnt lunge at the opportunity to direct Precious. All of his heroines tend to have the standard heart-of-gold complex but tend to remain passive as people begin to take advantage. Rape, hanging, sliced geni …
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The Dynamic Duo: The Decade in the Coen Brothers
Joel and Ethan Coen are two of the most talented and prolific filmmakers working today. In this decade alone, they have made seven feature-length films. The quality of their work varies in large part because they are willing to approach a wide range of challenging genres. They try their hand at film …
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Fashion House Follies
Fendy sunglass earmuffs. Theyre so hot right now! (Image from far Ive shied away from discussing fashion. I hesitate to grant it its own unique identity or pass it off under the umbrella term, art. However, if art is the physical expression of ones soul and creativity, art it must be. Fashion has th …
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PwT – EE: Computer Art -> 1
Friends, I hope this weekend was a good one for you. If you read my column this week (as people occasionally do), your mind has hopefully been stretched and reformed into a more refined shape. Youre thinking deep thoughts on the nature of art as a product, not as a process (which is absolutely a poi …
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Icons of the Aughties: Daniel Plainview
I drink your milkshake! To merely call Daniel Plainview a caricature of the dark side of American capitalism would not do Daniel Day-Lewis achievement in Paul Thomas Andersons There Will Be Blood enough justice. Metaphoric purposes aside, Plainview is a man capable of both ends of the human spect …
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Celebrating Cinematic Spectacle: The Decade in Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson made four epic fantasy films that defined the cinematic spectacle for the new decade. His films made the act of viewing a physical activity: His shortest film, “The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001), is three hours long; the extended cut of “The Return of the King” (2004) is over four hou …
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Decade in Review – Ten Worst Collaborations
Sometimes an unexpected collaboration can add up to a refreshing sum greater than its parts. Beyonce and Jay-Zs Crazy in Love, M. Ward and Zooey Deschanels She and Him, and John Legend and Andre 3000s Green Light all come to mind. Then there are the terrible ones. This list is dedicated to the top t …
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PwT – EE: Graphics!
Hey gang, This weeks EE is going to be short and sweet. In the column I talk about graphics, and how its a field of visual art fueled by consumers. I mention the progression of the field, and how its come leaps and bounds in not too much space. I remember reading a great article summarizing game des …
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Decade in Review - Ten Worst Collaborations
Sometimes an unexpected collaboration can add up to a refreshing sum greater than its parts. Beyonce and Jay-Zs Crazy in Love, M. Ward and Zooey Deschanels She and Him, and John Legend and Andre 3000s Green Light all come to mind. Then there are the terrible ones. This list is dedicated to the top t …
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‘American Idiot’: Broadway Bound!
At first is seemed like a bit of a long-shot: a drug and sex-infused musical based on the lives of troubled young adults set to the music of punk group Green Day. But with a talented cast and director Micheal Mayer (the guy behind Spring Awakening), and not to mention a slew of Green Day fans ready …
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An Otherworldly Intellect: The Decade in Charlie Kaufman
I had a memorable encounter with the brilliant screenwriter Charlie Kaufman last fall, at an early screening of his directorial debut, “Synecdoche, New York.” A Kaufman film is guaranteed to provide an exhausting amount of intellectual fodder, and as the film ended, I scribbled furiously in my noteb …
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Arternative: Got Ink?
People claim that tough biker dudes gotta have ‘em, a pirate isn’t a pirate without ‘em and you wouldn’t be able to identify a convict without one. Or so some people assume. No, I’m not talking about swarthy sideburns or a shank. I’m talking about tattoos. Due to aforementioned stereotypes, tattoos …
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Silences and Salutations: Program C
Salutations, by Eugene Ionesco, directed by Charlotte McIvor The third iteration of Salutations that I saw may or may not have made reference to the fact that it was being performed just as the football game was ending. Regardless of whether or not it was a timely reference, the hecklers in this ver …
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Silences and Salutations: Program B
Salutations, by Eugene Ionesco, directed by Charlotte McIvor The Program B variation of Salutations on Friday night felt a little more tolerable than the Program A version, if only because picking out the differences between the two provided a bit of a diversion from the scripts repetitiveness. It …
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So Fresh, So Clean: The Decade in OutKast
By the beginning of the new millennium, pop music had cemented itself into fixed, immutable genres. Predictability, staleness and a refusal to cross-pollinate were the defining features most music. If you randomly scanned through radio stations, you’d find your ears subjected to predictable playlist …
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Long Takes in Humanity: The Decade in Alfonso Cuaron
The films of Alfonso Cuaron are distinguished by their extraordinary cinematic ambience. Their narratives effortlessly transcend generations and cultures, intimate portraits of characters whose trials and tribulations mirror the spectrum of the human experience. From rural Mexico to Hogwarts to dyst …
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Anahat: South Asian A Cappella Competition
The annual South Asian a cappella competition, Anahat, was hosted by UC Berkeley Indus at Zellerbach Playhouse last night. Competitors included USC Asli Baat, UCSD Sitaare, UCLA Naya Zamaana, UCI Andaaz, UIUC Chai-Town, Stanford Raagapella, CWRU Dhamakapella, and UC Berkeley Dil Se. Out of these sev …
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PwT - EE: Graphics!
Hey gang, This weeks EE is going to be short and sweet. In the column I talk about graphics, and how its a field of visual art fueled by consumers. I mention the progression of the field, and how its come leaps and bounds in not too much space. I remember reading a great article summarizing game des …
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Silences and Salutations: Program A
Salutations, by Eugene Ionesco, directed by Charlotte McIvor When I sat down to the opening performance of TDPS festival of one-act plays, all I knew was that I was sitting down to a series of plays written by the likes of Samuel Beckett, Gertrude Stein and Eugene Ionesco, which I assumed meant that …
Arts: It's What's for Blog
