Almodóvar turns airborne disaster into frothy comedy in ‘I’m So Excited’
Who else but Pedro Almodóvar could take a standard disaster movie premise and turn it into a frothy, candy-colored comedy? But the merry Mexican maestro carries it off with delicious, subversive aplomb in his new film, I’m So Excited, which dares to ask the question: How would you choose to live your last hour of life? In the Almodóvar universe, the answer involves cocktails, plenty of sex, and a disco beat.
One day, seven venues, 11 stages, more than 90 acts, and 85-plus hours of entertainment. The inaugural Santa Cruz Music Festival hits Downtown Santa Cruz on Saturday, July 20, and we have one question for you: Can you handle it?
At 40, The Crepe Place is still cranking out delicious vittles …and rock stars
The Crepe Place is the indie rock equivalent of the machine that put stars on Sneetches’ bellies in the famous Dr. Seuss tale. Musicians walk into the Soquel Avenue restaurant in Santa Cruz as unknowns, and they leave as rising stars.
Matt Conable is a rare breed of musician. “I decided 20 years ago that I didn’t want to try and make a living in music,” he says. “If it happened, fine, but music’s too close to my heart. It’s the thing I love the most. I realized if I make this the mechanism by which I try to pay the rent, then it’s going to quickly become about that, and not what I love about the music itself. I didn’t ever want to fall out of love with music, so I’ve always kept it as a very serious hobby.”
‘Byzantium’ a lush, eerie, feminist vampire tale
In his varied career, Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan has shown a particular gift for weaving eerie folklore and fairy tale sensibilities in and out of so-called “real” life. So to call his new film, Byzantium, a mere “vampire movie” doesn’t begin to suggest the lush and disturbing depths and subtle textures of this provocative and atmospheric tale. Told from a refreshingly female perspective, with a time-traveling narrative and a rich subtext about storytelling and its consequences, it revitalizes the notion of what a vampire movie can be.
Pinot Noir 2011
Birthdays are always fun to celebrate, and it’s also a good time to open a bottle of vino or two. My Greek friend and I took our Russian friend to dinner at Center Street Grill for her birthday, and I brought along a bottle of Bruzzone Family Vineyards’ Pinot for us all to enjoy.
Films This Week
Check out the movies playing around town.
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UC Santa Cruz research explores the genetic basis for cancer
It took more than 10 years for researchers at UC Santa Cruz to compile the first sequence of the human genome—the complete collection of DNA that serves as the alphabet of life.
Since this historic date in 2003, sequencing technology has progressed at a breathtaking rate, and it now takes just months to amass the same information.
Pop-Up Breakfast series creates fleeting hubs of artisan food and community-style dining
Breakfast may lay claim to the title of most important meal of the day, but now, thanks to a new Pop-Up Breakfast series in town, it can also boast of being the tastiest.
Funny and fierce comediennes on a mission to split sides at the Santa Cruz Fringe Festival
From thespians to burlesque dancers, spoken wordsmiths to circus performers, the second annual Santa Cruz Fringe Festival will push the envelope with 200 short art performances of all shapes and sizes from July 11-20. Roughly 40 acts will delight and bedazzle at a collection of downtown venues, including Motion Pacific, The Tannery and Center Stage, throughout the week.
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