Who've we got now? Hmm.... Best Actor. Two words. Casey Affleck. I love Viggo, and I don't love Denzel (no I haven't seen Fences but I've endured the film's trailer at least four times. Way too forced, too much of a strident over-the-top theater piece.). Gosling?...

This film will not get an Oscar. None. Especially not lead actor Amy Adams, who (wisely) was not nominated. Sound harsh? Be honest. When have you turned to your film-going companion and said, "hey, let's go see that new Amy Adams flick."? Never. The reason is that,...

Every February 14, millions of Americans slip into a trance of ritual passion. Under its influence, we shell out serious money for extravagant and expensive perishables. Hot house roses—at $75 a dozen—will be snapped up like glue guns at an Etsy open houe. Enough...

Watching Scarlett Johansson speak at the Women's March on Washington I found myself thinking and feeling many things. Maybe that short, Joan-of-Arc-ish haircut will inspire lots of young women my students' age to get rid of their long stringy fashion locks, I mused....

Those squeamish viewers who found Manchester by the Sea difficult to watch will find Paul Verhoeven's new film, Elle, way too much to handle. Refreshingly non-formulaic (i.e. non Hollywood), the film stars a stunning Isabelle Huppert as a successful Parisian, Michele...

Seven Golden Globes? No way! I saw La La Land, and La La Land was no Manchester by the Sea. Light, upbeat, feel-good, fun to watch, catchy tunes, Ryan Gosling—but nowhere near the award-grade film that some others were. So what's the deal?  I think I figured it...

How wonderful to see Fantastic Beasts, and where to find them—this latest tale of magic, darkness, and colorful creatures— without ever having read or seen any of the Harry Potter films. I was in a unique position bringing no expectations or prior acquaintance...

Hitting our stride now! Two Santa Cruz "Inside the Flame" events coming up. Please SAVE THE DATES! Tuesday December 6th we'll have some dinner, some wine, and I'll read a bit and reveal a lot @ Gabriella Cafe. Afternoon Prosecco Party at Soif, December...

Since this film will be gone by the time you read this, there isn't much point in offering an actual critique. Allied is a film loosely structured around Brad Pitt's ability to wear suits and Oscar-winner Marian Cotillard's inability to spin straw into gold. The film...

As reviewers are writhing all over themselves in praise of Tana French's latest mystery, The Trespasser, allow me to remove myself from the frothing queue. Still bruised by her last book, I've been bruised all over again by this one. I had devoured French's In the...

As I emerged from a period of mourning over the recent election, I headed for what I knew would provide the perfect antidote—a matinee screening of Dr. Strange starring the elegant and resourceful Benedict Cumberbatch. The Big Screen and plenty of popcorn—it was...

In our zeal to clean up, throw away, and streamline we are in danger of losing touch with important moments and aspects of our lives. Before you toss out that old theater program or cluster of dried leaves, step back, take a deep breath, and consider this: • Clutter...

Excited about the Inside the Flame events lined up for November and December. Please come to any and all of them and help me spread the word by telling your friends, too. I am so honored to share this with my great community and beyond. (Take a look Inside the Flame...

There's the book, and there's the movie. The book moves quickly, until it doesn't. The movie has a score by Danny Elfman. A very haunting, distinguished score by Danny Elfman. The book ended in a hail of red herrings, dei ex machina, and obviousness. The movie simply...

How many times have you walked into a room, and gotten sidetracked by a piece of mail and after you opened the mail you realized that you'd forgotten why you came into that room in the first place? You re-trace your steps, hoping to remember what you started out to...

It was a piece in The Guardian that led me to read Lionel Shriver's justly renowned novel The Post-Birthday World. In this richly imagined, cunningly plotted, and brilliantly realized "what-if?" novel, we meet Irina McGovern, a book illustrator pivoting between...

"Feeling so nostalgic for London," said my friend Tai this morning. "It must be the autumnal weather." She and I spent two weeks in England exactly a year ago, hiking through Jane Austen country in beautiful Bath and then sampling the great parks and urban energy of...

It usually begins with something written down longhand. I take it up to my computer, apply a little blind faith and just begin in-putting what's written on the page. Then something clicks and I'm expanding those ideas without actually thinking. Something else has...

  A college birthday party featuring tequila, piñatas and sombreros is branded "an act of ethnic stereotyping." The perpetrators are branded racists, their party deemed an act of "cultural appropriation." Thus begins writer Lionel Shriver's piercing critique in...

In a smart and emotional article in New York Magazine, Andrew Sullivan concludes: There are books to be read; landscapes to be walked; friends to be with; life to be fully lived. And I realize that this is, in some ways, just another tale in the vast book of human...

Many people feel that the time they spend at work is essentially wasted — they are alienated from it, and the psychic energy invested in the job does nothing to strengthen their self. For quite a few people free time is also wasted. Leisure provides a relaxing...