You wanted a staycation, you said. You need to catch up on streaming, you said. Well, the magic elf that lives in the sky certainly gave you what you wanted. During this period of house arrest, Netflix's cornucopia continues to spill narcos, zombies and real-life crime. Take a hard pass in favor of the adventures of a Suffolk sheep. A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon cites ET, Men in Black, Doctor Who and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The space invader is about a yard high, a sort of mischievous finger puppet shaped critter with tentacles. Topped with an azure puppyish head, he's a deep-space cousin to Peanuts' Snoopy. Shaun helps him phone home, while warding off trouble from the Ministry of Alien Detection, and the authoritarian » Read More

Given the current political crises, it's hard to see films by the new generation of directors following Jafar Panahi (This Is Not a Film), Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Kandahar) or Abbas Kiarostami (A Taste of Cherry, Certified Copy). Bretow notes, "We were surprised to find out that many American moviegoers weren't familiar with the renown of Iran's national cinema ... With The Night, we wanted to make something that honored that authentic humanity. Like the Iranian cinema that has come before it, The Night doesn't wear all of its secrets on the surface. We set out to create a film layered in meaning." » Read More

The text on the marquee said it all: "The Ritz Closed Until Further Notice." The news came as a disappointment to fans of Xavier Dprehpaulezz--the imaginative blues singer and songwriter who performs under the moniker Fantastic Negrito--who was scheduled to wow the crowds at The Ritz on March 19. As the county and state ramp up efforts to prevent a spike in novel coronavirus cases, bars, nightclubs and live music venues are shutting down, and it is unclear when they will open again. » Read More

Talk, talk everywhere but not a drop of trust. "Opinion has become our driving force," says Quinn, who brings his new show, The Wrong Side of History, to Stanford for four performances March 13 and 14. "Free speech, exchange of opinion, open communication: These things are automatically thought of as evolutionary ways to get to enlightenment. But my whole show is, hey, maybe we've gone too far with free speech, once we have electronically made opinion this thing that everyone gives out all day, every day." » Read More

It's not a bird. It's not a plane. And it's definitely not Superman. But on the right side of Enrique Chagoya's canvas, you can make out part of the Man of Steel's familiar logo. SUPER is spelled out in the familiar block lettering but the word is reversed (REPUS) and falling off the chest of a Frankenstein-like figure. The face doesn't belong to Kal-El, the comic-book alien sent to Earth from Krypton. It's a jumble of seven or eight faces collaged together. Supergirl's cape is flying freely behind her back but the logo covers her face and upper torso. Superman himself does make an appearance. He's flying straight into the "S" but you can only catch a glimpse of one full leg and both of his red ankle boots as they disappear upwards. » Read More

Even COVID-19 will not stop local filmmakers from elevating the ignored voices of San Jose history. Over recent months, Naglee ParkÐresident Cotton Stevenson spent a huge amount of time interviewing several alumni members of the Good Brothers, the groundbreaking African American fraternal group that emerged in downtown San Jose in the mid-to-late 1950s. His 30-minute film, gloriously lo-fi and home-movie-like, was scheduled to premiere at the Antioch Baptist Church at Seventh and Julian streets a few weeks ago, until the coronavirus made it clear that people shouldn't be gathering. » Read More

Character doesn't always seem important in a partner until a person gets knocked around by somebody with some big vacancies in that department. In other words, if you want your son to dump this ethically elastic chickie, the ideal thing to say is nothing. Let him marinate in her bad character. Hard as it will be to keep mum, you might try to view him as midway through the natural recovery process in the wake of contracting a nasty parasite--one that's 5-foot-7 and blonde with window-sized Gucci sunglasses you suspect she lifted from some distracted wealthy lady's restaurant table. » Read More

"If all the world's a stage, where the hell is the teleprompter?" asks aphorist Sami Feiring. In my astrological opinion, you Aries are the least likely of all the signs to identify with that perspective. While everyone else might wish they could be better prepared for the nonstop improvisational tests of everyday life, most of you tend to prefer what I call the "naked spontaneity" approach. If you were indeed given the chance to use a teleprompter, you'd probably ignore it. Everything I just said is especially and intensely true for you right now. » Read More

Solitary walks along empty sidewalks and back alleys in the age of COVID-19 are turning into psychological experiments. Even with stay-home orders in effect, persons and/or their cohabitants are still allowed to go out for walks, jogs, or exercise as long as a distance of six feet from others is maintained. Yet it has become a strange experience. As soon as one sees another person approaching, a game emerges to see who crosses the street first or alters direction. What's a natural born explorer supposed to do? » Read More