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KISS kinda sorta admits Rock Hall of Fame snub hurts

KISS
Kiss is tired of being dissed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame … sort of. “I don’t need the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” band frontman Paul Stanley said. But he admits that consistently being overlooked by the music elite kind of sucks. “It’s absurd for anybody to look around and hear the acts and artists who cite us as an inspiration, and then tell me we are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” he told The Huffington Post. Read More

Dusk for ’Twilight’ couple Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart

Robert Pattinson Kristen Stewart
OK, this time it’s official: “Twilight” hotties Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have split up. There’s a delicious irony that the vampire couple’s relationship is constantly killed and then resurrected, but this time it seems to be totally over for good — as in wooden stake through the heart, head cut off, reduced to vapor, etc. Read More

‘You’re Going to Bleed’ a bit too ambitious

You're Going to Bleed
In her ominously titled feminist revenge comedy, “You’re Going to Bleed,” now world-premiering as part of Exit Theatre’s DIVAFest, playwright Melissa Fall co-opts some characters and tropes from theatrical literature. For example, a marginally employed actor, John (as in Proctor, from Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”), is seduced by a teenager named Abigail (“The Crucible” again). Here, John is Abigail’s audition-monologue coach. She’s preparing an erotic boy-and-horse scene from “Equus,” and that drama too figures into Fall’s plot in weird and abstract ways. Read More

From reality TV to really live

Shaping Sound
Fans of blockbuster dance reality shows “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Dancing With the Stars” need look no further for entertainment this week than to “Shaping Sound” at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre on Wednesday. Launched from the Oxygen network television show “All the Right Moves,” “Shaping Sound” is a dance company and touring show featuring choreography and dancing by Travis Wall, Nick Lazzarini, Teddy Forance and Kyle Robinson, veterans of either “So You Think You Can Dance” or “Dancing With the Stars.” Read More

Jared Leto blasts off with new Mars music

30 Seconds to Mars
“Love Lust Faith + Dreams,” the new fourth recording  from Jared Leto’s alt-rock outfit 30 Seconds to Mars, is nothing if not apocalyptic. It opens with deceptively jazzy horns of “Birth,” but downshifts into Wagnerian epics like the fallen-empire study “Conquistador,” the morbid piano dirge “End of All Days,” the  rattlesnake-percussion “Northern Lights,” and the majestic  single “Up in the Air,” with the brooding lyric “Is this the end I feel, up in the air, f****d up on life?” Reflecting on the magnum opus, the singer laughs. Read More

Riveting Michael Shannon boosts ‘Iceman’

iceman
Notorious criminals who inspire movie biopics rarely are colder or nastier than Richard Kuklinski, the high-achieving contract killer who likely killed more than 100 people while working for the mob. In “The Iceman,” Kuklinski comes alive, courtesy of actor Michael Shannon, as an intensely unembraceable protagonist while displaying just enough humanity to be watchable and sometimes riveting. Unfortunately, the movie undermines his superb performance by failing to treat Kuklinski with adequate depth. Read More

Big is conjuring up customized cocktails

Big SF
This is cocktail heaven — a place where there is no menu, just bliss. At Big, cocktail artisans craft drinks based on your mood; your spirit of choice; or what kind of funky goblet, coupe or crystal you’d like it poured into. It’s part art, part science, part telepathy. And it’s a throwback to the glory days behind the stick. “That’s exactly what we’re doing here: pouring what makes people happy,” said bartender Christian Clark. The warm, candlelit bar with white marble countertops is anchored by a plethora of fruits and herbs at each end. Read More

Rosé prices swelling, but bargains remain

Vitiano
Like flowers, rosé wines are starting to bloom. Yes, it is the season, and producers know that there has been a growing demand. I’ve tasted some really good stuff, but the prices are rising. The $10 rosé is not totally gone, but is much more scarce, I’m afraid. And as I write about different types of rosé over the next few months — and for those who are fans, there is a trove of jolly pink wines waiting for you — be prepared, as it is no longer uncommon to see rosé in the $20 price range. Today, though, is all about value. First, here are a few general tips: Read More

Whiskey goes down better than food at Hard Water

Hard water
At Hard Water, Charles Phan’s whiskey bar on The Embarcadero, the whiskeys are arranged high up a 20-foot wall and there’s a ladder for the bartenders to reach the highest ones. It’s a towering shrine to brown liquor, one that outshines the accompanying food. That’s not to say the New Orleans-inspired menu doesn’t have its head-turners. The oysters Saint Charles, dressed in cayenne and butter, turned out to be a perfect companion to the whiskey — or whiskeys, who’s judging? — of your choice. Read More

Sarah Polley turns her family situation into a documentary

Sarah Polley Stories We Tell
Fresh from the San Francisco International Film Festival, Sarah Polley’s third film as director, “Stories We Tell,” is unlike her previous feature films, the superb “Away from Her” and “Take This Waltz.” But “Stories We Tell” is not just any documentary. It’s a unique, emotional and surprising ride about a powerful event in Polley’s life. Instead of facts, Polley deals with memory, doubt and a host of other tenuous concepts. As the movie begins, she interviews her sister, who poses the very good question, “Who cares about our family?” Read More
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