Matthew Javidi

November 7, 2013

Directing Students Debut One-Acts

By Matthew Javidi

Six talented students from UCSB’s Department of Theater and Dance share their directing chops with the public.

November 29, 2012

‘Shining Lives’ Cast Thrills Despite Stuffy Script

By Matthew Javidi

In Spring of 2012, the Theater and Dance Department produced an original play by director Jeff Mills and playwright Valerie Slitor called “Piezoelectric Love: The Half-Life of Marie Curie,” which detailed the tumultu...

September 21, 2012

TV Star Tom Schanley Takes On ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’

By Matthew Javidi

Actor Tom Schanley has worked on many television shows such as “Criminal Minds,” “Dexter,” and “NCIS,” but recently he’s been at Santa Barbara’s Center Stage Theater rehearsing Tennessee Williams’ “Ca...

May 12, 2011

‘On the Verge’ of Something Great

By Matthew Javidi

In a world where people will line up to buy gadgets that display human ingenuity at its finest, and still complain about their lack of features, Eric Overmyer’s brilliant play “On the Verge” restores the fascinatio...

April 7, 2011

Steve Aoki Casts a Spell on the Hub

By Matthew Javidi

At 8:30 p.m. on Thursday night, nearly 800 UCSB students lined up outside the UCen trying to hide the fact that they were stoned, drunk or rolling from the dozens of Community Service Officers and police officers patroll...

March 3, 2011

“She Stoops” Approaches Conquering UCSB, Dies Crossing the Alps

By Matthew Javidi

My father turned me on to British comedy at a young age. He first showed me “Wallace and Gromit,” “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” and, of course, “Mr. Bean.”

February 17, 2011

‘Never Say Never’ Will Give You Bieber Fever

By Matthew Javidi

The Devil crouched upon the tip of the boy’s ear, hidden under a lock of perfectly swooped hair, and stared out at his screaming followers.

February 10, 2011

‘Biederman’s Match’ Entertains, Confuses, Ultimately Satisfies

By Matthew Javidi

There are certain things in life and art that are simply not meant to be understood. I don’t understand why Steve Buscemi’s character always died at the end of Coen brothers movies.

January 20, 2011

The Dilemma: Typical January Fare

By Matthew Javidi

Welcome to January, moviegoers! This is the month where Hollywood’s finest release their most shameful work, allowing them to spend the rest of the year making up for it while us reviewers pick at their doodie like rav...

January 13, 2011

Country Strong, Plot Weak

By Matthew Javidi

My musical tastes lie somewhere between gangsta rap and a little-known genre called “pirate metal,” so the honky-tonk bar tones and sappy, tongue-in-cheek, cowboy romance lyrics of country music aren’t really my ba...

November 5, 2010

Saw 3D: Yet Another Series of Uninspiring Killings

By Matthew Javidi

Despite what you may believe about the “Saw” movies, they have become the defining horror films of our generation, like “Halloween,” Friday the “Thirteenth” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street” before them.

October 28, 2010

Sam Raimi’s “Drag Me to Hell

By Matthew Javidi, Artsweek Editor

Sam Raimi’s first true horror movie since directing the “Spider Man” trilogy tells the story of an ambitious bank worker who gets cursed by an angry customer. Filled with the typical cheese and B-movie gore of Raim...

October 28, 2010

Rocky Horror: Just As Horrible as Ever

By Matthew Javidi

When a film has been in theaters for over three decades, you would expect that film to be either culturally significant, so bad that it’s just that fun to watch or the best damn movie of all time.