by Christina Waters | Jun 26, 2014 | Home |
From the first frame, you are hooked. Yes partly because Ida, written and directed by Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski, is shot in raw black and white. Partly because the camera is most often stationary, allowing actors to move in and out of our viewpoint—creating a softly unsettling sense of time standing still.
But the visual secret of this mesmerizing 85-minute masterpiece is the choice of an almost square aspect ratio. Instead of the wide horizontals of contemporary filmography, we watch the small, unflinching story emerge in a compressed space. The pressure on all sides pushes the action—such as there is in this quiet, steady pursuit of truth lost—pushes it into a space without time. A continuous Now. We could read this film forwards or backwards. Is it redeeming the past? Or is it pointing toward the inevitable recurrence of the future?
The story, if explained to someone who hasn’t seen the film, will sound unlikely. A young novice, Ida (played by Agata Trzebuchowska) about to take her final vows, learns of the existence of an aunt—her only blood relative—and is told she must visit this woman before she can enter the religious life for good.
The aunt is played with the sort of spare visual dominance of a dark Ingrid Thulin by Agata Kulesza, a veteran Polish stage actress who is nothing short of shattering. As a former (more…)
by Christina Waters | Jun 25, 2014 | Home |
I finally rolled out of bed and responded to all the emails I’d gotten, asking what I thought of the indie food film Chef.
Here’s what.
Jon Favreau could rattle off the auto mall listings from the Yellow Pages and be irresistible. The actor/director (Iron Man), wrote, directed and starred himself in this feel-good road trek following a gifted but volatile chef as he quits his designer restaurant gig for a questionable foray into the world of real food served up from a food truck.
Armed with his can-do sous chef Martin (John Leguizamo), his estranged son Percy (Emjay Anthony) and fresh ideas about Cuban pork sandwiches, (more…)
by Christina Waters | Jun 25, 2014 | Home |
Better than ever, this charmingly eccentric stronghold of sparkling fresh and beautiful sushi classics. We are devoted to the hamachi nigiri and the daikon-intensive futomaki roll, shown here. Edible art. Sushi Totoro on Mission Street.
by Christina Waters | Jun 24, 2014 | Home |
Fried calamari apps don’t get much better than this dish from Oswald, which I inhaled along with one of those cool pale green cocktails—like the Bitter Ricky composed of lime, gin, and bitters.
My gal pals told me, after I’d ordered, that they don’t do tentacles.
I ate the entire plate myself!
by Christina Waters | Jun 18, 2014 | Home |
The UCSC Farm & Garden produce cart spreads its wares out for your delectation, each Tuesday and Friday from noon to 6pm until oh sometime in late autumn.
Right now it’s plum season. Strawberries too.
Terrific stuff. Get some!
