The switched-baby melodrama has been dormant for some time now. One of cinema's great living kid-wranglers, Hirokazu Kore-eda, brings the once popular genre to life in the overlong, occasionally poignant Like Father, Like Son. As always, Kore-eda is capable of subtle, tender moments, but the too-stark contrast between the victimized families oversimplifies his story. » Read More

After a long career of tricks designed to make people doubt their eyes, Penn Jillette and Teller made the sweet and winning Tim's Vermeer. Teller gets the director's credit; Jillette narrates, naturally. It actually fits what the magicians have done both on stage and as debunkers, their mystification in the name of demystification. It offers a solution to the mystery of Vermeer—"a fathomless genius, now a fathomable one," says the rumbustious Penn. » Read More

Inside the Triton Museum, the lights will be dimmed for Beverly Rayner's art reception. Seemingly a hundred antique artifacts-conjuring and spell-casting devices, mesmeric and illusionist tools, spirit photos, divination equipment, levitation and witchcraft gear, plus items related to alchemy, mystical matters and seances-now occupy one of the galleries at the Triton. The exhibition, titled "Beverly Rayner: Museum of Mesmerism & Psychic Art," opens this weekend. » Read More

BIEBRACH PARK sits adjacent to the Gardner Community Center, just southwest of the monolithic cement abomination of an interchange where highways 280 and 87 spew off in seemingly every direction. It is not a spectacular 'hood, but I am here, schlepping through the bumpy, waterlogged grass, past the rusty soccer goalposts and straight up to one of the more classic murals in San Jose, a gorgeous Aztec calendar 16 feet high. Local artist Antonio Nava Torres originally spray-painted the mural in 1995 » Read More

With Cinequest already bringing thousands of folks to downtown San Jose for numerous films, Maverick Award hoedowns and chic soirees, it seems appropriate that First Fridays will also erupt on March 7. That means, for film buffs in need of downtime diversions this Friday, well, more than enough art shows and hijinks will unfold in a variety of locales around the neighborhood. » Read More

Dinner and wine with friends. Snow-and sledding. Stark, wide-angle winter landscapes. As Uneasy Lies the Mind opens, it's a string of familiar moments: snapshots that could have turned up on Facebook, posted by a friend who's in Tahoe for a few days. The saturated colors, darkened edges of frames and washes of overly warm or cold tones blend into a blown-out, lo-fi look that confers a patina of instant nostalgia, like Instagram shots come to life. And that's not far from the truth. » Read More