Watching two reindeer in the California Academy of Sciences’ East Gardens on a cloudy day, a child recently asked, “Will they be OK when it rains?” The mother, probably not a spelling bee winner, replied, “Sure, they are reindeers!”Better known as caribou in North America, the Arctic deer, with their spectacular antlers, are perhaps the most popular part of the Academy’s current show, “’Tis the Season for Science.” The male is called Miles; the name of the female will be supplied by the winner of a contest sponsored by the Academy. Read More

Elected pope but unrecognized and hiding out in Rome, an old man watches a theater rehearsal and mouths words by Chekhov, his childhood idol. It’s among the many amusing and affecting scenes of director Nanni Moretti’s film “We Have a Pope” (“Habemus Papam,” the traditional announcement when cardinals elect a new pontiff), screening at the San Francisco Film Society’s New Italian Cinema program this week. “Pope” has the same setting — the Vatican backstage scene — as Hollywood blockbusters “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels and Demons,” but viewers will remember it longer. Read More

For a weighty reference to Handel’s “Messiah,” consider that Beethoven spoke of it as one of the great works in all music. And so it is, of course, a global favorite since its premiere in 1741. Read More

The origin of the de Young Museum’s current exhibition, “Masters of Venice: Renaissance Painters of Passion and Power,” is the one-time global maritime power and center of commerce. Venice was immensely rich during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and its nobility spent lavishly on arts, music and architecture. Read More

The ninth annual San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival, “3rd i,” running Wednesday through Sunday in The City, is dedicated to promoting diverse images of South Asians through independent film. The roster includes art-house classics, documentaries, experimental and Bollywood features, as well as movies made by San Francisco filmmakers. Read More

Among many unforgettable people from the brush of the painter Camille Pissarro, the first to make an indelible impression is a 7-year-old boy, Felix. One of Pissarro’s eight children, he is the subject of a birthday portrait near the entrance of the “Pissarro’s People,” an exhibition of more than 100 oil paintings and works on paper on view through January at the Legion of Honor. Felix, with an upturned nose and long brown hair, wears a pink bow and a red beret and sits against a paisley-decorated wall in the background. Read More

Few composers survive varied interpretations and levels of performance quality as well as Mozart; the music almost always wins over circumstances. That was the case on opening night of San Francisco Opera’s new production of “Don Giovanni.”  When Nicola Luisotti began to conduct the overture on Saturday, the sound from the orchestra was unusually restrained, and the performance continued in the same vein for almost three hours, until the finale caught fire. Read More