Having given us a woman-friendly pimp in "Hustle and Flow," writer-director Craig Brewer further challenges the belief system with his new melodrama, "Black Snake Moan," which asks us to embrace a protagonist who aims to cure nymphomania with a Bible and a chain. Fortunately, Brewer’s fantasyland is a humanist one, and its characters are emotionally true. If you’re willing to immerse yourself in the swamp, what transpires therein can be affecting as well as ridiculous.
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It was perhaps only a matter of time before David Fincher moved on from sensationalist fantasy like "Se7en" and "Fight Club" to true-crime thrillers like "Zodiac," the new film studiously based on a pair of best-sellers by controversial author Robert Graysmith. In truth, "Zodiac" is as much about Graysmith, a self-proclaimed expert on the series of unsolved murders that rocked Northern California during the 1960s and early ’70s, as about the killings themselves.
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Thirty-nine years after the murders of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen sparked the investigation into what would come to be known as the Zodiac murders, the case remains unsolved. Despite a wealth of evidence, including the cryptic letters sent by the killer to reporters at the San Francisco Chronicle and The Examiner, the identity of the Zodiac is a mystery that, to this day, baffles the authorities and amateur sleuths.
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"Witness to War: Revisiting the Vietnam War in Contemporary Art" at San Francisco State University's International Center for the Arts begs certain questions: What does it mean to be a witness to war, and how does one revisit it through contemporary art? The exhibit revisits the conflict within a framework that reduces historical particulars to a nebulous anti-war statement, and limits its commentary in a way that lacks specific analysis.
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Paris Hilton is in hot water yet again. The heiress was arrested for driving with a suspended license — and she could reportedly face jail time for violating the terms of her probation.Paris was stopped by police Tuesday night for speeding and driving without her headlights. When cops found that her license was suspended, they arrested the "Simple Life" star and had her car impounded. Because Paris was sentenced to three years of probation following a September DUI arrest, TMZ.com reports, she could face up to 90 days in jail over the incident.
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Lois and Roger, two of my most trusted culinary informants, have been trying to get me to Hard Knox Cafe for seven years. They happen to live on Potrero Hill, just uphill from Dogpatch, a stretch of Third Street where this soul food joint is located.But it took a recent eating orgy in New Orleans to get me there. Longing for one mo’ po’boy, I found myself sitting at the Hard Knox bar in front of three huge oxtails ($10), fork tender, redolent of green pepper and napped in thickened pan gravy. I couldn’t have been happier.
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Ken Burns, perhaps the country’s most famous documentarian, is in town to screen "The War," his PBS epic about World War II as seen through the eyes of everyday Americans. Excerpts from his 14-hour, seven-part series are being shown during the San Francisco State University Doc Film Institute’s festival, called "Witness to War: Documentary Perspectives from WWII to Iraq," happening today through Sunday.
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It’s the little things that fascinate Jayson Wechter.From colorful schoolyard murals in Chinatown to cryptic messages hidden in thesidewalks of North Beach, the private investigator has an eye for the unseen details of San Francisco. Year after year, Wechter trolls the streets and alleyways of Chinatown, North Beach and Telegraph Hill in search of undiscovered city secrets to share with the masses in time for The City’s Chinese New Year festivities.
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It's no secret that filmmaker George Lucas is a genius. The man created "Star Wars," for crying out loud, and maybe some other things in between. Or is Canadian actor Charles Ross the genius? After Tuesday's performance of his genial stage show "One-Man Star Wars Trilogy," even the most die-hard fans might start leaning their light sabers in favor of Ross.
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The San Francisco Lyric Opera’s new production of Gounod’s intimately lyrical 1867 "Roméo et Juliette" is mostly not. Lyrical, that is. Instead of hushed melodies on gossamer wings, what goes down in the Legion of Honor (through Saturday) is blood and guts, not a Berlioz wannabe, but something halfway between a Verdi revenge scene and Wagner’s Valkyries riding high.
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