Getting dumped is bad enough. But imagine being incessantly bombarded with pictures of your ex and his impossibly gorgeous, confident and successful new babe. Such is the fate of Jennifer Aniston. In the wake of her own breakup from Vince Vaughn, she’s been forced to endure an onslaught of publicity about former husband Brad Pitt’s charmed life with"Good Shepherd" star Angelina Jolie.
Read More
A familiar name to longtime San Francisco jazz fans, sax man Noel Jewkes, has performed and recorded with just about everyone in the Bay Area. John Hendricks, Wesla Whitfield, Mary Stallings, Lavay Smith, Mimi Fox, Larry Vuckovich and Paula West are among his many collborators. He’s been at it for decades; he was even onstage at the legendary Fillmore Street nightspot Bob City and played a role in the late-’60s San Francisco rock scene.
Read More
En masse they arrive with boomboxes at their side, waiting for the maestro’s cue. Upon word from New York-based composer Phil Kline, the stereo-lugging public collectively presses "play" to unleash a cacophony in the streets. The result isn’t some unruly disturbance; it’s a modern-day caroling of sorts known across the globe as "Unsilent Night."
Read More
Nothing soothes and restores like a bowl of congee, silken Chinese porridge made only with rice and water. Porridge King, a cheerfully efficient congee house in a happening Asian shopping center, makes an excellent one with preserved pork and salted egg ($5.50). The salty pork and egg give the porridge richness and depth. And if you throw in hunks of a long, unsweetened Chinese doughnut ($1.50), warm from the fryer, you have the ultimate satisfaction of chewiness and crispness with a creamy hot soup.
Read More
For a guy whose film career launched more than 40 years ago, Robert De Niro is hardly showing any signs of creative fatigue. The quintessential method actor has six upcoming films in pre-production, one directed by Jodie Foster, another by Barry Levinson. This month, the two-time Oscar-winner turns heads in a place many wouldn’t expect to find him: behind the camera, directing "The Good Shepherd," which opens Friday.
Read More
Former Stray Cat Brian Setzer is as hot as ever. The Brian Setzer Orchestra even has been nominated for a Grammy Award: "My Favorite Things," off "Dig That Crazy Christmas" on Surfdog Records, is up for best pop instrumental performance. Setzer performs live with his 18-piece rockin’ big band in the popular fifth annual "Brian Setzer Orchestra Extravaganza." The show, which features holiday classics and other music, is onstage at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and 8 p.m. Friday at the Fox Theatre, 2215 Broadway, Redwood City.
Read More
A few thoughts inspired by a recent screening of "Rocky Balboa"…» Sixteen years after Sylvester Stallone left his prolific franchise bleeding on the mat with the lackluster "Rocky V," the brand name endures. It’s easy to smirk at "Rocky Balboa," yet another retelling of the underdog story whose endearingly simple hero spouts hoary clichés and trite motivational speeches before returning to the ring. But Rocky’s salt-of-the-earth charm is real, and the grand finale doesn’t disappoint.
Read More
Who knew Donald Trump was such a compassionate guy? The multitasking mogul, in his role as head of the Miss USA pageant, offered misbehaving crown holder Tara Conner a second chance after allegationsof drug and underage alcohol use jeopardized her title.
Read More
Talk about differences. If 2005 was all about oldsters, 2006 is ringing out as the almost polar opposite. These past 12 months, it’s been all about young bands that seemingly materialized out of nowhere. On the surface, everything felt like business as usual, with Paris Hilton’s bid (plea?) for dance-diva legitimacy, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ motion for continued relevance and the gradual transformation of Bruce Springsteen from coliseum gladiator into boxcar-hopping hobo.
Read More
Rarely has an American filmmaker recounted the horrors of war from the perspective of a onetime enemy, but here is Clint Eastwood’s "Letters From Iwo Jima," the stirring companion-piece to "Flags of Our Fathers," reimagining one of World War II’s most harrowing campaigns from the standpoint of the Japanese. In doing so, it reaches a simple, inescapable conclusion — that war, while sometimes inevitable, is truly barbaric, and that our adversaries often have more in common with us than we might like to believe.
Read More
URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/archive/21?page=750
