Best-selling author Tracy Chevalier has set her new book "Burning Bright" in late 18th-centuryLondon, where a family encounters printer and poet William Blake.Chevalier, who wrote "Girl With a Pearl Earring," says her work on "Burning Bright," which is being released this month in the United States, was an attempt to understand Blake."I found his prose hard to understand and I found his paintings scary," Chevalier said in a recent phone interview. (She appears at Bay Area book signings today and Sunday.)
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The inmates are running the asylum in "The Hills Have Eyes 2," which begins tastelessly enough with the graphic delivery of a newborn followed by the swift decapitation of its mother. Things grow steadily more obscene from there, as a group of National Guard trainees arrive at a New Mexico army base only to discover that their commanding officers have all been slaughtered by a cave-dwelling crew of mutant cannibals.
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Today: Ray of Light Theatre presents "The Secret Garden in Concert." Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman’s Tony-winning musical play is based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel about a girl whose arrival at her uncle’s house brings life not only to its garden but to the family inside.WHEN: 2 and 7 p.m.WHERE: Brava Theater Center, 2781 24th St., San FranciscoPRICE: Tickets are $15 to $35 INFO: Call (800) 838-3006 or visit www.roltheatre.com
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There’s nothing like artificial uplift to ruin a genuinely inspirational story, and that’s what happens with "Pride," the latest sports-drama-with-an-extraordinary-mentor-hero released from the mill.This time, the protagonist is Jim Ellis, the real-life Philadelphian who, in the 1970s, started what would become an immensely successful swim team consisting of African-American youths living in one of the city’s most neglected areas. His efforts have brought numerous kids hope in addition to trophies.
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There are plenty of emotional diving boards to walk out on in life, but only a few come with an exit clause requiring tremendous leaps of faith.Nobody knows this better than Sunu Gonera, whose directorial debut, "Pride," is about holding your head up high and trusting in the unknown. The film’s theme seems to mirror some of the Zimbabwean-born director’s own life experiences.
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John Malkovich is one of those actors who lends instant credibility to whatever project he accepts, and "Color Me Kubrick," the new comedy directed by the legendarily reclusive auteur’s longtime assistant director and co-producer, Brian Cook, is no exception. It sets the stage for Malkovich to audition a variety of comic personae, all uniquely rendered and linked only by a common eccentricity — their insistence upon being known, however fraudulently, as Stanley Kubrick.
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Despite rumors that bombshell actress Carmen Electra is dating rocker Joan Jett, her rep tells Us magazine’s Web site that "they are just friends." And speculation about a romantic Palm Springs getaway at the Dinah Shore Weekend is unfounded: While Carmen is scheduled to perform at the event, an insider told the site Joan isn’t attending.Is Katie crying to Victoria about Tom?
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Jess Curtis/Gravity premieres "Under the Radar," a dance work addressing issues of virtuosity, ability and disability. The presentation features an international cast of disabled and nondisabled performers. Performances are at 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays through April 1 at Counterpulse, 1310 Mission St., San Francisco. Tickets are $15 to $30. Call (415) 435-7552 or visit www.counterpulse.org.
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Beyond the Gates: A teacher must decide whether to stay with his students or flee the genocide in this drama set in 1994 Rwanda. Rated R. At the Embarcadero.Boy CultureBased on the novel by Matthew Rettenmund, this romantic drama follows a successful male escort’s tangled relationship with two roommates and an older, enigmatic male client. Not rated. At the Castro.Color Me Kubrick
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"Shooter" is a throwback to hyper-violent revenge fantasies like "Rambo" and "Commando," in which an indestructible hero takes on a small army and walks away unscathed. Here, that hero is Bobby Lee Swagger, played, as the name obviously suggests, with supreme self-assurance by Mark Wahlberg, whose rugged, blue-collar charisma and muscular frame make him an ideal candidate to fill the shoes once worn by Stallone and Schwarzenegger.
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