Photographs on display at the Contemporary Jewish Museum ask the question, "What is Jewish?"The answer is wider and more varied than one might expect in "The Jewish Identity Project: New American Photography," extended through April 29 at the San Francisco museum.New York photographer Nikki S. Lee, who is of South Korean descent, dresses herself as a bride at what appears to be a Jewish wedding in a series of provocative images called "The Wedding" at the front of the exhibit. (The image of Lee is also around town on billboards advertising the show.)
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Britney Spears has taken to the Interwebs to defend herself against a recent barrage of bad press. Said to be, ahem, resting at an Arizona spa following her New Year’s nod-off, the pop star posted a new message to fans promising to "com[e] back this year bigger and better than ever."
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San Francisco’s Word for Word returns to the stage this week yet another of its unique verbatim productions, "Strangers We Know."Since 1993, the group has staged short stories from literary masters such as Amy Tan and Tobias Wolff by preserving all nuances of the authors’ texts, even attributions like "he said." Yet, the plays are more than staged readings. If you’ve never seen one, the two-part "Strangers We Know," which opens Friday at the Magic Theatre, is a great chance to get some Word for Word action.
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Photographer Brooke Tankle of La Honda has only to step outside her front door to photograph nature’s beauty."Living here 17 years in a hand-built cabin under a redwood tree, I can watch the seasons bring new visual experiences all year. I have become attuned to the subtleties of light and shadow with details influenced by the environment," Tankle said.
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A nonstop, absurd action flick, an awesome British television import and a movie where Robin Williams puts on the serious beard again highlight the upcoming week in DVD releases. "CRANK"
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They don’t make movies like "Miss Potter" anymore, and that’s a pity. This gentle and genteel, quietly intelligent film is a heart-warmer, a place of rest amid car chases, special effects and general mayhem.
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An emotional charge and a fresh ingredient enliven the formula in "Freedom Writers," the latest heroic-teacher drama to emerge from Hollywood’s uplift mill. Thanks to irresistible source material and some smart touches applied by writer-director Richard LaGravenese, something real and affecting happens amid the standard making-the-grade silliness.
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The CinemaLit Film Series at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco is back in full swing. CinemaLit programs complement the Mechanics’ Institute Library’s collection of more than 2,500 videos and DVDs including classics, drama, comedy, foreign films and documentaries. Each Friday screening begins with an introduction of the movie, genre and themes by curator Michael Fox or another well-known local film writer or critic. The evening concludes with a salon discussion involving the audience and speakers.
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Emmanuelle Bercot — popular in France, little-known in the United States — may make a name for herself with "Backstage," opening today at the Lumiere Theatre in San Francisco. In this film she directed last year, a teenage groupie’s fantasy comes true, turns into a nightmare, then is resolved with a bizarre and chilling double-cross, in relentless action that often borders on melodrama.
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From Carl Jung’s "collective unconscious" to Bruno Bettelheim’s "Uses of Enchantment" to "Fractured Fairytales" (of "Bullwinkle" fame) to Stephen Sondheim’s affecting masterpiece "Into the Woods" — messing with the Grimm Brothers has been a growth industry.The latest addition to the genre of adult wisecracks over seminal childhood stories is the animated feature "Happily N’ever After" from Paul J. Bolger, making his debut as director, and written by Robert Moreland, whose résumé includes "Thunder Pig."Paul Buckley’s simple, syrupy music neither helps nor hurts.
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