A female friend who did a little bit of role-playing said that the important thing was not to let the mask drop. If you came in the room wrapped in leather, you had to continue to look like you meant business. By contrast, Roman Polanski's pervy and very fun two-character film Venus in Fur lets its marvelous star Emmanuelle Seigner drop and reapply the mask, and still be a redoubtable female avenger. Seigner is Vanda, an actress who reverses the flow of power coming from her would-be director. » Read More

The touching and well-built Roger Ebert documentary Life Itself isn't as varnished as you might expect. Having very close access to Ebert, director Steve James caught sometimes brutal footage of a death from cancer. The steadfastness of Ebert's wife Chaz amazes. Everyone speaks of the courage of a dying patient, but Ebert's illness forces him to remain where he is. His mate stays by choice. That may be tougher. » Read More

Flashes of green, black and blue whipped around the track as the Silicon Valley Roller Girls B-Team, the Killabytes, took on the Faultline Derby Devilz from Hollister. Skaters slid across the floor, elbow and knee pads scraping on the track as speeding bodies collided in a roller derby bout that would end with a victory for the home team. SVRG's team came out on top, with a score of 249-119. » Read More

The Great Pretender opens to a television production set fashioned as a child's room. Toys sit on the shelves, polka dots cover an armoire and children's music plays softly in the background. At center stage, Mr. Felt (Steve Brady) a famous children's TV host, is conversing with his equally famous co-hosts, puppets Carol the Horse (Suzanne Grodner) and the androgynous child Francis (an exuberant Sarah Moser). But this scene is merely a memory, as Felt's wife, Marilyn, who once voiced the puppet Francis, is now dead, leaving the show's future up in the air. » Read More

In a rundown, chilly Minnesota town, a Somali-born delivery driver makes his way to drop off packages and letters to reluctant and sometimes violent residents. So hostile are some recipients that he's perpetually prepared to run. Ambo knows that because he's mixed-race, his deliveries almost inevitably draw unwelcome attention. Each knock on a stranger's door could be the bell to a fight. » Read More

This week, two brilliant perspectives on local history will unfold. Right now, a full-blown documentary on San Jose history is in the works. The final gala hoedown fundraising cocktail spectacular transpires Thursday at the home of Norm Kline, one of the folks driving the project. In a time-shattering coincidence, the very next night, Tamiko Rast, of Roy's Station in Japantown fame, will exhibit a handful of gorgeous paintings in the art deco style of old travel posters, with each one addressing historical San Jose atrocities. » Read More