The instant success of West County Grill, a big, warehousy restaurant just off the main plaza of Sebastopol, owes to a super-experienced team with a clear vision.
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Mike White isn’t trying to change your diet. The critically acclaimed author of "Chuck & Buck," "School of Rock" and "Nacho Libre," makes his directorial debut, minus Jack Black, with "Year of the Dog," a emotionally charged comedy about a woman transformed from a mild-mannered homebody into a zealous animal-rights activist after the death of her beloved beagle.
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Manager Joe Simpson has guided his daughters Jessica and Ashlee to pop stardom. Now a source tells the New York Daily News that he’s interested in working with troubled singer Britney Spears — who recently parted ways with her manager — to get her flailing career back on track. Jessica’s rep denies that Joe sought a meeting with Brit. Shanna posts Paris’ digits on MySpace
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Big Dance Theater comes to San Francisco: The acclaimed New York troupe presents "The Other Here," a wild, provocative work of short stories by Japanese writer Masuji Ibuse — with Okinawan pop music and dance — featuring a theme that involves, of all things, insurance salespeople. Performances are at 8 p.m. today through Saturday at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St., San Francisco. Call (415) 978-2787 or visit www.ybca.org.
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Facing New York has had plenty of opportunities to make more money. While music-industry people have offered lucrative deals in exchange for control over their work, the band members passed, wanting to remain true to themselves.Howard Roark, a character in Ayn Rand’s "The Fountainhead" (an inspiration for the group’s name) dealt with a similar struggle. Members of the group shared and admired Roark’s control of creative decisions even at the expense of money, says guitarist, keyboardist and lead singer Eric Frederic.
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Choreographer Lily Cai may have been too young to experience the full brunt of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, but its deeply penetrating historical significance has not escaped her. In fact, she worries that the Chinese government’s current policy of evading public conversation about the devastating event 40 years ago may cause people to forget.
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Robin Williams: S.F.’s own thespian-comedian will be interviewed by Armistead Maupin in a conversation prior to a screening of "The Fisher King." Williams also will receive the Peter J. Owens award, for an artist whose work exemplifies integrity. "An Evening with Robin Williams" is at 7:30 p.m. May 4 at the Castro Theatre.Spike Lee
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Take 200 films from 54 countries, divide that by 15 days and add an assortment of film-related festivities and what do you have? A rather daunting film festival. Today through May 10, the San Francisco International Film Festival celebrates its 50th anniversary with another round of diverse cinema from across the globe, but with 200 films — not to mention the slew of parties, panels and performances to choose from — where does a festival-goer even begin?
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It’s a wonder that anyone decides to stay in San Francisco, considering how dangerous it is. The Golden Gate Bridge was mangled by a giant sea monster in 1955, and in the great earthquake of 1978. There was a huge fire downtown in 1974 at the world’s tallest skyscraper. Who can forget the invasion of alien pods in 1978?
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Out of the hundreds of festival films, here’s just a handful of personal choices — based on preference for the unusual, the civilized, and substance over flash.‘Ad Lib Night’Country:Korea (2006)Running time: 1 hour, 39 minutesDirector: Lee Yoon-kiScreens: May 7, 9 p.m.; May 8, 3:45 p.m. and May 10, 5 p.m. at the Kabuki
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