Artsweek

March 5, 2009

Another Acid High *****

By Artsweek Editor

The Black Lips' musical talent somehow surpasses its considerable reputation for debauchery. That's saying a lot for a band that has been banned from multiple concert venues in L.A. for its members making out onstage and...

March 5, 2009

Joaquin’s “Two Lovers” ****

By Sara Weitz

James Gray is one of the rare dark romantic filmmakers left in Hollywood, and he demonstrates his mastery of this style with his most recent film, "Two Lovers." The film, which features a performance by the Letterman-bel...

March 5, 2009

UCSB Actors Prove “Conways” To Be Timeless

By Amy Silverstein

Thespians from the UCSB Dept. of Theatre & Dance showed off their convincing British accents this weekend in a well-acted performance of "Time and the Conways," a melodramatic play written by playwright J.B. Priestley in...

March 5, 2009

Batsheva Dance Co. Comes to SB

By Jacob Mark Schpall

The Batsheva Dance Company is based in Tel Aviv and was founded in 1964. Its members consider themselves ambassadors of the Israeli artistic community. Some people believe that Batsheva is a ploy to give the Israeli imag...

February 26, 2009

Not Exactly Child’s Play *****

By Hunter M. Daniels

There is something to be said for taking risks. Without great risk, there can be no great reward. Sometimes that risk leads you to something average like "Keeping Up with the Steins"; other times, it leads you to brillia...

February 26, 2009

Watching the Oscars: A Bore of a Chore

By Amy Silverstein

Sure, The clothes were pretty, and "Slumdog Millionaire" won a well-deserved seven awards, including Best Picture, but last Sunday's 81st Annual Academy Awards ceremony was an incredibly stupid event.  These were, i...

February 26, 2009

“Friday the 13th” to the Nth Degree **

By Hunter M. Daniels

You already know if you want to see "Friday the 13th" or not. If you can hum or pant the iconic score, you might very well enjoy the movie. But if it takes more than blood, tits and hockey masks to get you going, you're ...

February 26, 2009

Charming, But Slight ***

By Jacob Mark Schpall

Morrissey has been freakishly successful in his attempt to separate himself from the legendary Smiths. It is an understandably difficult task for an artist to surgically remove him or herself from the original group. Pro...

February 26, 2009

Within the Fray ***

By Sara Weitz

It's hard to believe that it has already been four years since the debut album of the Fray. The titular track for that album, "How To Save a Life," became a huge television-fueled phenomenon of a single after being featu...

February 19, 2009

Legends Perform Ginsberg Tribute

By Amy Silverstein

Most college students might assume that "hipster" is a recently coined term, but the late poet Allen Ginsberg wrote about "angelheaded hipsters" in "Howl," his famous 1955 poem that celebrates the rebellious Beat movemen...

February 19, 2009

A Haunting Presence

By Stephanie Leong

Friday, Feb. 13, at downtown Santa Barbara's Lobero Theatre was a fittingly haunting night, thanks to the entrancing power and surrealist beauty of Chan Marshall's truly unique voice. The mystique and magic of the artis...

February 19, 2009

Student-Starring

By Steven Morris

Performing Chekhov is notoriously difficult. The theatrical premiere of "The Seagull" in 1896 was a famous disaster, and Chekhov reportedly hated the first production of "The Cherry Orchard" in 1904. His plays operate s...

February 19, 2009

Actually Lily, It IS You ***

By Hunter M. Daniels

When Lily Allen burst onto the scene in 2006 with her iconic, ska-fueled hit, "Smile," she became the first person to transcend Internet stardom and become an honest-to-god pop idol. Her debut record, Alright, Still, wen...

February 19, 2009

Case of the Missing Keys ***

By Artsweek Editor

The Black Keys will always suffer from comparisons to the White Stripes. Like the band's Midwestern garage-rock duo counterparts also named after a color and a noun, the Black Keys has spent its time in the dingy but pow...

February 12, 2009

Cleese Cheered at Campbell Hall

By Jimmy Fremgen

John Cleese, living comedic legend of "Monty Python" fame - who also happens to be a Santa Barbara resident - graced the stage at Campbell Hall Monday night for his annual film screening and Q&A. The event, the proceeds ...

February 12, 2009

CD: International Dischord **

By Artsweek Editor

Based on his undeniable talent and innovation as a producer for acts like Spank Rock and M.I.A., Diplo probably deserves to have his work released as part of a compilation.