On the Nurturing of Low-Grade Creativity
What I have to say will come as no surprise. But it will probably offend many of you.* These remarks are long overdue—they spring from having seen too many sow's ears made out of sow's ears. And too much motherly "support" for the arts that is fatal to authentic...
Casting Glances: Odyssey of movie maker Judy Bouley
It's been a long and winding road from Santa Cruz to Hollywood to Kazakhstan and back, but casting director Judy Bouley brought back hair-raising, spine-chilling, and joyous tales from her life in the movies. Casting Glances is the name of her just-released book—soon...
SF Opera Takes on Steve Jobs
A Feel-Good Gloss on the Life of Steve Jobs The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs - San Francisco Opera - September 2023 Part Disney, part Broadway, and surprisingly enjoyable, the musical theater scored with Hollywood dazzle by Mason Bates to text by Mark Campbell will...
Wagner’s Ring, Bayreuth 2023, Family Feud
A Ring for Generation Z by Christina Waters As the final Cycle of Bayreuth's 2023 Ring came to a close, the air remained electric with the sounds of Wagner's apocalyptic horns and the rapture of the Rhine. [see my Operawire review of the Bayreuth Parsifal here.]Camps...
The Budapest Ring
From its first slowly undulating chords to the last sweeping thunder of destruction, Wagner's Ring of the Nibelungen carries the listener along on an enveloping artistic journey like no other. The opera anticipated cinema and more than captured the composer's...
Flavors of Budapest: 2022
In warm, humid, beautifully green Budapest, I stroll along the Danube before approaching 19th century interior of the lovely old Gerbeaud, a destination cafe and pastry shop in the heart of old town Budapest. Here along with a juicy variety of mostly ladies who lunch,...
Parsifal: Bastille Opera, June 2022
Parsifal: Twilight of a Production Having traveled 5000 miles to dive into the Opera Bastille production of Wagner's final opera, I was poised for a memorable experience. And while I certainly got one, it was mostly for the wrong reasons. Here's the short version....
Journey to the East: Food, Operas, and Humidity
I'd waited for almost three years to get on a plane headed for Europe. And Paris did not disappoint. Balmy summer weather, baguettes as good as my memories, and a few days to kill roaming the city, and some great museums before my night at the opera—Parsifal—arrived....
Desert Bomb: Dune
Before I get down to serious ripping and shredding, I need to get this off my chest. As a baby boomer, I read and thrilled to Frank Herbert's prescient, imaginative, and mythic futuristic novel. Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, of murky self-important Arrival fame,...
Desert Bomb: Part II
Just thinking about continuing my assessment of Denis Villeneuve's bloated bomb makes me reach for the gin. You'll recall I decided to address whether ponderous camerawork, massive explosions and a behemoth score can actually substitute for a script, dramatic tension,...
Last Call: Poems by Stephen Kessler
Last Call: Poems by Stephen Kessler Essayist, translator, pundit, and poet Stephen Kessler has been courting the muses for over 50 years. In his latest, largest, and 12th collection of poems, Last Call, Kessler's elegant technique explores Santa Cruz, music, lost...
Northern Lights: Images from Per Forsström
If Edvard Munch had been a photographer he might have been Per Forsström, a Stockholm-based new wave polaroid photographer whose growing oeuvre evokes the ambiguity of dreams. And like dreams, Forsström's work is filled with seductive alliances between his skilled...
Rusty and other tales of the Virus
Rusty came on our walk this morning. When you're an adult women without children or pets, you name your hats. And your car, your plants, your pillows, even your laptop. Rusty came from Switzerland, he's red and woolly and sits strangely on my small head. Still he has...
Oscars 2020: A few choice remarks
Yes, Brad Pitt should win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his deceptively casual turn in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time In ....Hollywood. A fairytale about the way movies were, or might have been made, with a fairytale ending. A "just so" story that takes...
Parasite: a 21st Century Fable
Parasite, the new film by Korean auteur director Bong Joon Ho, is not only gorgeous to look at, it presents a harrowing satire on the state of class inequity in the 21st century. It's hard to think of a recent film that packs this much metaphorical power. Set in Korea...
Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
The title of Quentin Tarantino's ninth film is significant. Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood. This is how fairytales begin: once upon a time. Something to keep in mind as you watch this juicy look in the rearview mirror at the days when Hollywood films were long...
Oscar Wrap-up!
The Duelling Duo Christina Waters and Lisa Jensen add their final two cents (ha! that'll be the day) to this year's nominations. Read on! CW: Best Original Screenplay Well here again I didn't see one of the nominees, First Reformed, but based on the films I did...
Cold War: Love in Black & White
In real life, an Impossible love affair is agony. But in cinema it's the stuff of enchantment. Cold War is the captivating odyssey of such a love. Seductive music and obsessive love perfume this gorgeous black and white loveletter to director/screenwriter Pawel...
Oscars 2019: Part II
Duelling Divas — my film buddy Lisa Jensen and I — continue to ponder our Oscar favorites. . . CW: Best Cinematography. It's gotta be Cold War. Every moment of its eloquent visual storytelling surrounded its central characters with the bohemian allure and political...
Oscars 2019! Part I
I chat with GTWeekly film critic Lisa Jensen about the Oscar nominations. CW: Hey there Lisa—well I have to say of this list of eight nominees for Best Picture this year, I have seen only 5 (five!). Bohemian Rhapsody—heart-pounding music and attitude; Roma—languid,...
Ceci n’est pas un film
Dear Peter - I know you're a professional art dealer and connoisseur. You've been around the block. And I also know that, like me, you had a poster of Van Gogh's Starry Night on your bedroom wall when you were in high school. Who didn't have a crush on Vincent? We all...
a day in October
Carmel without fog, exciting new opera, and a dinner of sophisticated comfort food. What an afternoon! Thanks to the innovative Days and Nights Festival that is one of the West Coast laboratories for friends and colleagues of composer Philip Glass (image: Chad...
NYC, a few choice meals
Living large isn't really a choice in Manhattan—it's the law! Especially where food is concerned. From the reliable Pain Quotidien to the Michelin-starred Modern—with bagels, macchiati, gelato, and a few memorable cocktails in between—we sampled with gusto last week...
The Band’s Visit
As distinct as night and day are the electrifying Hamilton, and the bittersweet The Band's Visit. Both deservedly showered with Tony awards, and utterly compelling in utterly different ways. How could the sweet, short, and succinct tale of a hapless Egyptian band,...