Like many of you, I still carry a torch for the intimate bistro, with its tiny little upper room and its tall Victorian brick walls, the original Oswald. During its delicious flowering nothing could match it. But last week I enjoyed a dinner at the newer incarnation...

American auteur Clint Eastwood has delivered yet another provocative work in American Sniper. A physically transformed Bradley Cooper, as legendary marksman Chris Kyle, leans into the addictive allure of the Iraq conflict and illuminates Eastwood's latest masterpiece....

I can't stop thinking about how perilously close Benedict Cumberbatch is to becoming one of those actors doomed to circle their own groundbreaking performances. Over and over. With his odd physiognomy and quicksilver reactions, Cumberbatch has given us some compelling...

As a devoted Benedict Cumberbatch groupie, it pains me to have to say that even the theatrical genius who dazzled us in Sherlock, and amazed us in Frankenstein cannot raise The Imitation Game—by Norwegian director Morten Tyldum—above the level of a made-for-TV...

For two and a half hours I waited for something to pump energy, concept, or even engaging visuals into this bloated Hollywood block buster. And for two and a half hours I waited in vain. Interstellar is excruciatingly bad. Bad, B A D! Why do I say this?  Here's why!...

Apparently while I wasn't paying attention (i.e. during the second installment of the Hunger Games film trilogy, which I failed to view) Katniss has destroyed the very Games that put her, her buddies and her lumpen no-necked boyfriend Peeta in such deep owl pucky. But...

I expected treacle, but The Theory of Everything turned out to be a beautifully-crafted biopic about astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, his intellectual ascent and his physical decline. Kudos to confident director James Marsh. Made from a book by his wife Jane—who...

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this surreal bit of brilliance. Michael Keaton's performance in Birdman is blazing. In one of the purest cases of art imitating life, this stunning film casts former action hero Batman Michael Keaton as a former action hero...

Travis Bickle—meet Lou Bloom. In the nocturnal swamp-crawl through Los Angeles that is Nightcrawler, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a sardonic psychopath against the gorgeous cinematic sweep of Don Gilroy's new film. Shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Elswit (There...

Director David Fincher has done some competent, stylish B movies in the past, e.g. Zodiac, The Social Network, and I guess you could call his latest, Gone Girl, a competent, stylish B movie. I went to see the film because as a writer I was curious about the plotting...

Joan Rivers - wow - how many times did I use her "Can we talk?" line when I was a smart aleck kid? A brilliant, genuinely funny trailblazer who definitely did it her way. Admit it, the world is a less edgy, less honest place without Joan's witchy tongue and spot-on...

Seriously, this was the most seamless, delicious, relaxing, vibrant farm dinner I've ever enjoyed. (And there have been plenty!) Route One Farms—sprawled out along the fertile alluvial plains by Waddell Creek—joined forces with Feel Good Foods and Santa Cruz...

Robin Williams, so desperately gifted, so desperately troubled. He died of an overdose of talent. Thanks for all the laughter and tears!

When our finest American actor succumbed to his demons earlier this year, film-goers knew it was a significant loss. But only with the release of A Most Wanted Man, the new film by Dutch filmmaker Anton Corbijn from the book by spymeister John LeCarré, did the full...

If you haven't yet fallen for the delicious, versatile nopal cactus (the pad of the prickly pear cactus, minus the pricklies), then you must head on over to 176 Lincoln Street this Sunday, July 27, for the Festival del Nopal loaded with nopal-driven foods, live music,...

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...

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,...

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.

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...

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!