Artsweek

October 8, 2009

“Om” Brings an Ancient Indian Tale to UCSB

By Nico Kiefer

The Boxtales Theatre Company, in association with Theater UCSB, opened its original show, "Om," to a full house at the Lobero Theatre last Thursday evening.

October 8, 2009

Master of the Melancholy

By Virginia Yapp

In the hands of a lesser, more ordinary artist, a set of mostly soft, piano-driven songs played in front of a completely unadorned stage would probably come across as tasking and fairly lifeless for any onlookers. But in...

October 8, 2009

Schwartz Conjures Up “Séance,” Opera Style

By Karen Urrutia

Opera, musical and theater fans, rejoice! Stephen and Scott Schwartz have together constructed a marvelous production which combines the most essential and beautiful elements of all three mediums to tell the tragic story...

October 8, 2009

“Zombieland” Brings Vibrancy to the Undead ***

By Hunter M. Daniels

"Zombieland" features decapitations, mutilations, lacerations, disembowelments, exploding heads, dead children and about 400 on-screen deaths. It is also laugh-out-loud funny.

October 8, 2009

Cool “Whip” Is Light, Frothy Film-going Fun ***

By Emelie Battaglia

Drew Barrymore's lifelong acting career has given her some keen insights into the film industry, and it's for this reason that viewers should have a little faith in her abilities. Her directorial debut, "Whip It," is ado...

October 8, 2009

Fertile Flaming Lips Deliver Embryonic ****

By Tyler Anthony

The Flaming Lips' latest record is Embryonic, a volatile collage of often paradoxical elements. This album of 18 tracks -- split between two discs -- is a study of oppositions: It comes across at once as retro and futuri...

October 1, 2009

Five Must-See Fall Flicks

By Arlin Golden

With a couple days of school under our collective belt thus far, there are already those trying to figure out how to divert themselves from schoolwork and find effective ways to procrastinate. I say to you, look no furth...

October 1, 2009

Second Shot at “Fame” Scores ***

By Stephanie Talavera

Replete with raging hormones and teenage angst, the 2009 update of 1980's Oscar-winning film "Fame" portrays the high school experience we all know too well. Emotions are constantly in high gear, as teens battle with the...

October 1, 2009

Mountain Goats Explore New World ***

By Philippe Lazaro

If you have trouble finding the new The Mountain Goats' album when it is released Tuesday, you might want to try and see if it was mistakenly stocked in the Christian music department. No, the trio hasn't transitioned in...

October 1, 2009

Electricity in the AIR ***

By Nicole Sands

AIR: The French electronica band's name alone conjures up elemental and celestial thoughts, and the band itself lives up to its namesake by feeding off the spacey, electronic sounds made popular in the '70s by artists li...

October 1, 2009

Filmic Future Looks Bleak **

By Hunter M. Daniels

Remember that one movie where everyone is plugged into machines that created a large-scale simulacra of the world until a single man rises up and frees all human consciousness? Or how about the one where the cop searches...

October 1, 2009

A Giant Black Hole **

By Emelie Battaglia

The story of "Pandorum" is this: By the year 2174, the planet Earth has become significantly overpopulated; the only possible solution to the overcrowding is to send a large spaceship of humans to a potentially life-sust...

October 1, 2009

“Star” Is Not So “Bright” ***

By Tyler Anthony

Director Jane Campion's "Bright Star," the latest of this year's Cannes selections to be given a theatrical release, is a period film based on the final years of Romantic -literarily and literally - poet John Keats. Whil...

September 24, 2009

New Album Reviews: No Age (***) and The Swell Season (****)

By Artsweek Editor, Nicole Sands

No Age returns to smaller releases after flirtation and romance, brought singer-its last two projects have produced LPs. The Losing Feeling EP - due out Oct. 6 - is a bit of a departure for the band, which abandons the f...

September 24, 2009

A&L Celebrates Its 50th Birthday in Style

By Virginia Yapp

If there's one thing most students don't take enough advantage of during their four-year stay at this fine institution of higher learning, it's UCSB's very own Arts & Lectures... not that you'd know it by looking at the ...

September 24, 2009

New Noise Festival To Debut in Downtown SB

By Virginia Yapp

Featuring a beautiful beachside locale, tons of reggae, a number of jam bands and copious amounts of ganja, the West Beach Music & Arts Festival pretty much embodies the Santa Barbara image, love it or hate it. If that's...