Artsweek

January 28, 2010

Grupo de Rua @ Campbell

By Karen Urrutia

Creating a bold new voice for hip hop, Bruno Beltrão, artistic director of Grupo de Rua, transforms street dancing into a classical piece of dance theater that reflects a dancer's everyday life in Brazil.

January 28, 2010

“Legion” = Unholy Failure * 1/2

By Emelie Battaglia

The single redeeming value of "Legion" is that it only takes itself half seriously. Unfortunately, neither half really merits watching.

January 21, 2010

SBIFF 2010’s Feature Films

By Virginia Yapp

Featuring a whopping 196 films -- in addition to a slew of panels and tributes -- for its 25th anniversary, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival's 2010 lineup is more than a little bewildering. Fortunately for y...

January 21, 2010

This Spoon Isn’t So Sharp **

By Philippe Lazaro

Austin-based band Spoon has garnered a reputation for dependability, releasing solid album after solid album for the last 10 years or so. The band's last effort, 2007's bizarrely titled Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, was one of their m...

January 21, 2010

Obama vs. Rabid

By Courtney Schonfeld

You know what they say: Where there's smoke, there's fire. Or in the case of the last couple of weeks, where there's rain, there's drama. Let's take a look at the bad, the ugly and the "WHAT IS THIS??? I DON'T EVEN..." m...

January 21, 2010

“Eli” Doesn’t Rewrite the Book **

By Emelie Battaglia

Walking into the theater, I wasn't sure what to expect of the Hughes Brothers' latest flick. Of course, that may be the curse of January film drudge more than anything else, but "The Book of Eli" was surprisingly worth t...

January 14, 2010

Sonic Youth at the Wiltern

By Virginia Yapp

One more reason to hate tennis (as if you needed another one): Last September, the veteran experimental rockers of Sonic Youth announced they would be cancelling the remainder of the dates on their West Coast tour, inclu...

January 14, 2010

Weekend Delights Again ****

By Philippe Lazaro

Despite the backlash from its much-hyped debut album, the NY-based Vampire Weekend avoids showing any signs of a sophomore slump with its latest album, Contra. The foursome of Ivy-Leaguers preserves the same elements tha...

January 14, 2010

Another Michael Cera-nade ***

By Hunter M. Daniels

Twenty-five years ago, Michael Cera wouldn't even have been cast as the goofy sidekick in a John Hughes film. Today, he's shaping up to be an honest-to-god movie star.

January 14, 2010

Terry Gilliam’s “Parnassus” Is Quite a Trip ***

By Tyler Anthony

Visionary director Terry Gilliam ("Brazil," "Time Bandits") swings for the fences in "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," a mostly successful but uneven film about an ancient storyteller struggling to gain immortality thr...

January 7, 2010

The Best of the Decade

By Hunter M. Daniels

"Mulholland Drive" - Dir. David Lynch (2001) A perfect movie with my favorite sequence ever (the scene outside the diner with the homeless person) Mullholland Drive has haunted my dreams for years. I can't see it as part...

January 7, 2010

Deliver Us From Re-run Hell

By Courtney Schonfeld

Over the break, after a terribly lame night of untangling Christmas lights or being your parents' own personal Geek Squad, you may have hunkered down in front of the trusty TV for some much-needed quiet time. Unfortunate...

January 7, 2010

Love, Senior-Citizen Style ***

By Emelie Battaglia

Filmed and set in our own Santa Barbara, Nancy Meyers' new romantic comedy, "It's Complicated," delivers the laughs and a hell of a view along with it.

January 7, 2010

Lil Wayne Denied Rebirth *

By Hunter M. Daniels

PREFACE: Lil Wayne's newest record, Rebirth, was accidentally shipped to some 500 Amazon customers who had preordered it. I was lucky enough to track down one of the physical copies. It appears that this leak has caused ...

December 3, 2009

Artsweek’s Favorite Films of ’09

By Artsweek Staff

1. "Inglourious Basterds" We're all well aware of Quentin Tarantino's notoriety for dirty, unpolished cult classic cinema. What "Basterds" accomplishes is a popular culture version of his taste, where the cinematography ...

December 3, 2009

Nic Cage Is the Good, the Bad and the Utterly Insane “Lieutenant” ****

By Lance Kosher

A man drives down a dark, empty Louisiana street in an unmarked sedan. He spots a couple coming out of a nightclub heading toward the car. He flips on his red and blue lights and pulls up to the couple. The man flashes h...