One of the most challenging shows you’ll see around town right now is John Mahony’s photography at the First Street Gallery. As a river kayaker, Mahony is witness to the increasingly evident fact that there are few wild spaces left on the planet that are untouched by humanity. "You rarely go on a river without […]
Arts + Scene
Reviews, interviews and upcoming highlights from the week in visual and performing arts around Humboldt County.
Posted inArts + Scene
‘The Golden State’ Heads South: Dell’Arte returns to L.A.
"It was a performance in Los Angeles in 1981 that kind of put Dell’Arte on the map," Michael Fields, the Dell’Arte Company’s producing artistic director, recalled last week. "We were doing Intrigue at Ah-Pah at the Odyssey Theatre." After the first weekend, when Fields was sleeping on a borrowed floor, someone handed him a copy […]
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Fool’s Film
Previews If it’s Valentine’s Day, it must be time for…new film openings. Four films open locally on Feb. 14, including the family-friendly The Spiderwick Chronicles from director Mark Waters (Freaky Friday; Mean Girls), an adventure story wherein Freddie Highmore plays twins Jared and Simon Grace, who find themselves transported to an alternate universe. As a […]
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Agates and Myrtlewood
When you read about an artist as well known as David Groth, you find a lot of "artspeak." Being an art historian, I am, of course, familiar with artspeak and have a basic understanding of it, but it still puts me off. It put me off when I was in school, and I might have […]
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Blinded by the Bland
Previews Opening Friday, Feb. 8, is four-time Oscar-nominated The Diving Bell and the Butterfly(cinematography, directing, editing, adapted screenplay). Director Julian Schnabel (Basquiat; Before Night Falls) seems to specialize in biographical films and this one is no exception. Diving Bell, based on the best-selling book by the former editor of the fashion magazine Elle, Jean-Dominique Bauby, […]
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Books as Art
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the 15 years Eureka’s Arts Alive! has been in existence, it’s that some of the most interesting art is often found in unexpected places. I considered this fact as Scott Brown led me toward the back of Eureka Books, weaving his way through shelves, tables, chairs and boxes […]
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A Masterpiece
Previews Another month, another Hollywood Asian horror film rip-off … or "adaptation," if you’re more kindly inclined. Opening Friday, Feb. 1, is The Eye , based on the Pang Brothers’ Ji?†n Gu«ê, which was released in 2002. The latest version is co-produced by Tom Cruise and stars Jessica Alba as violinist Sydney, blind since childhood, […]
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Fear On Trial
Two things occurred to me before I saw 12 Angry Men at the Ferndale Repertory Theatre. First, that once you find yourself in the jury pool in Humboldt County you can pretty much count on getting called to the court house every damn year. That doesn’t happen everywhere. So some sizeable proportion of those seeing […]
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Reasons to Call New York
(Trinidad, 2006) Pumpkin shell finally rotted I made…
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I Have Seen Cloverfield
Previews There’s more blood, a spoof, a never-say die Stallone and Diane Lane versus a serial killer coming up this Friday, Jan. 25. The Oscar multiple-nominated There Will Be Blood stars Daniel Day Lewis as a turn-of-the-century oil baron who brooks no competition. The film is directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia) from a script […]