Likely the most famous unfinished film ever, The Other Side of the Wind is now available in what its studio Netflix deems "An attempt to honor and complete his vision." The 'he' in that sentence is Orson Welles. Welles, the creator of Citizen Kane (1941), left Hollywood some years after RKO Picture's vandalism of The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). He continued with brilliant work throughout Europe, including innovative, low-budget Shakespeare adaptations. Back in the States, he devised the crown of film noir, Touch of Evil (1958). And yet, as biographer Joseph McBride notes, at the time of Welles' American Film Institute award, director Henry Hathaway complained, "What are we honoring him for? He only made one movie." » Read More

It's the same rejected 007 script plotting, with tunnel-sized holes in the logic; the same stretched coincidences (one involves a wanderer in the woods emerging at precisely the right moment on an empty country road). Still, The Girl in the Spider's Web, the new Lisbeth Salander adventure, tops the three-part, one-English-remake series. It has the sharpest, deepest actress in the title role, Claire Foy of First Man. It also has a particularly avid director, Fede Alvarez (of Don't Breathe, that ingenious reversal of Wait Until Dark). » Read More

Last year, in September, MACLA hosted the first staged reading of Ask a Mexican by the Denver-based playwright Anthony J. Garcia. He based it on Gustavo Arellano's trenchant OC Weekly column of the same name. From 2004 until his resignation from the weekly last year as editor-in-chief, Arellano would answer letters from the public about Latinx culture. The cartoon bandido character who appeared at the top of every column set the tone. Arellano was going to confront caricatures and stereotypes by dismantling blatantly racist letters that were ignorant of and/or openly hostile toward immigrants and their experience of America. Arellano replied to them with an unapologetic, cynical glee. » Read More

Long before I was honored with the title of Santa Clara County Poet Laureate, I've considered it my duty to spread the power of poetry to as many people as possible. Through the various open mic events and slams I host, I've worked to draw the poetry out of others and help them to find a voice all their own. Along the way, I've joined forces with local businesses, libraries, non-profit organizations and schools to help South Bae denizens learn to appreciate literature. It has been a wonderful adventure, perhaps the greatest of my life--second only to my initial discovery of poetry and my lasagna. Those two are tied for first. » Read More

Right before sundown, Bruce Munro addressed a small crowd assembled to see "Stories in Light," his installation collection at the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga. To exhibit a mix of newly commissioned and older work, Munro used the Montalvo grounds the way other artists populate a canvas with color. As he talked about the inspiration behind many of the light sculptures, the Great Lawn behind him slowly lit up. His Silver Sea consists of white spheres on poles, "lilies" that undulate with white waves of light that turn blue and then back to white. Munro had previously stayed at Montalvo in 2016 to discuss the idea of an installation. One night he crossed the grounds stumbling toward his destination in the dark. Silver Sea is an antidote » Read More

It's a warmer than average Friday in late October, and at 4pm plenty of folks would be itching to get a jump on the weekend. But not Raj Jayadev. The youthful-looking 43-year-old community organizer is still running around the offices of the non-profit he helped co-found, Silicon Valley De-Bug, as he prepares to head over to the Santa Clara County Main Jail. The office is buzzing. In one corner, a couple of young boys are horsing around with a De-Bug staffer. In another, a man is pouring over a stack of legal paperwork with another De-Bugger, as staff and volunteers are called. Jayadev and his team are preparing to head over to the jail to support the family of Isai Lopez, a 23-year-old man who died in custody several days prior. » Read More

During World War I, members of a vigilante organization calling themselves "The Knights of Liberty" kidnapped an American citizen living in downtown San Jose and accused him of pro-German sentiments. They drove him out to the corner of Penitencia Creek and Piedmont Roads for a mock "trial," after which he was tarred and feathered and then chained to the brass cannon of the McKinley statue in St. James Park. San Jose police had to rescue him. The May 2, 1918, San Jose Mercury Herald report of the crime is included in San Jose and World War One: A Centennial Exhibition, a simple exhibit at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Main Library, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1918, when the war ended. We get personal stories » Read More

The good news is, you two may be able to break up without it breaking your kid. My friend Wendy Paris and her former husband did this--splitting up as a couple while staying together as parents of their young son. Wendy writes in her book "Splitopia: Dispatches From Today's Good Divorce and How To Part Well" that they even relocated together from New York to Los Angeles, moving to separate places a few blocks apart. They hang out and do activities as a family. Her ex often comes over to make breakfast for her son and coffee for her. He even takes out the trash! Sure, he did that when they were married, but Wendy was too preoccupied with her issues with him as a husband to appreciate it like she can now. » Read More

In 1994, Aries pop diva Mariah Carey collaborated with an associate to write the song "All I Want For Christmas Is You." It took them 15 minutes to finish it. Since then it has generated $60 million in royalties. I wish I could unconditionally predict that you, too, will efficiently spawn a valuable creation sometime soon. Current planetary alignments do indeed suggest that such a development is more possible than usual. But because I tend to be conservative in my prophecies, I won't guarantee anything close to the $60 million figure. In fact, your reward may be more spiritual in nature than financial. » Read More