Artsweek

Another Night in the Neighborhood

After only a few minutes at the Biko Co-op Garage Performance Space on Sueno Road, one gets the feeling that most weekend nights at the garage turn into wild, decadent dance parties - at least when th...
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MC Lyte Holds Court in I.V.

MC Lyte is known as one of the greatest female rappers of all time. With a career spanning almost 20 years, which began when her first single dropped in 1986, MC Lyte is a woman who changed the game o...
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Meet the Smiths ****

The Sound of the Smiths is an extensive collection of the Smiths' greatest hits, with 23 of its better-known tracks on the first disk and an impressive collection of 22 lesser-known (but equally good)...
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Bond Is Back… ***

James Bond movies are supposed to be fun, escapist and entertaining fare that pass in one ear and out the other without a great deal of consequence and with a great deal of snappy one-liners, smoking ...
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C’mon, Get Happy ****

Poppy (played in a beautifully nuanced performance by newcomer Sally Hawkins) is an optimistic person. She is a 30-year-old elementary school teacher and lives a somewhat carefree life in London with ...
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Art Imitates Life ****

Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's characters have always been insanely neurotic and self-obsessed, but his directorial debut, "Synecdoche, New York," takes the unrelenting self-examination to new heights...
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Out and About

One of the first films screened at OUTrageous! was "20 Straws: Growing Up Gay," directed by Liv Gjestvang and the Youth Video OUTreach Collective. The short film documents the experiences of nine gay ...
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Dance Dance Revolution

To the throng that waited outside the Thunderdome at 6 p.m. to be let into the concert, I tip my hat and shake my head. The doors opened at 6:30 p.m., but Lupe Fiasco didn't take the stage until aroun...
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Ronstadt Brings Retro Charm to State Street

Linda Ronstadt's performance at the Arlington Theatre last Tuesday was shamelessly cheesy, but it was more on par with aged, quality Swiss than with Kraft Mac in a box.
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Slumber Party

Oklahoma synthpop, electroclash, electronica-rock band Shiny Toy Guns attempted to rock the stylish - if a bit too small - club Velvet Jones on State Street, but Sunday night is no match for even the ...
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Theater & Dance’s ‘Reckless’ Isn’t Your Typical Holiday Play

Murder, suicide by champagne, and insanity... doesn't exactly sound like the average Christmas-themed play. Unlike most holiday plays, which tend to be unusually sappy, Craig Lucas' "Reckless" is funn...
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The Lineup

As part of its annual fund drive, KCSB-91.9 will present the Santa Barbara premiere of the Flaming Lips' 2008 feature film, "Christmas on Mars." The screening will be held in I.V. Theater this Saturda...
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California Girls

On Oct. 29, the University of Art Museum here at UCSB opened its doors on its most recent exhibition, California Biennal 2008, which will run through Mar. 1, 2009. The exhibition was mounted by the Or...
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Jack’s Mannequin Delivers a Lively Performance in the Hub

I always imagined Jack's Mannequin's fans to be just like the music: calm, cool and relaxed. I never would envision that they would be so intense that during the course of last Thursday evening's conc...
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Missing Pieces **

Clint Eastwood, the minimalist director who last brought us 2007's harrowing set of films, "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima," is a master at portraying the desperate individual caught...
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