AltWeeklies Wire
The Mantles Keep it in the Family and Create a Cali Pop Classicnew
Fueled by friendship and romance, the Mantles are relaxed enough to enjoy absurdity, whether it arrives in the form of a shirtless dude in a Yoda mask or entails playing the role of "psychedelic band" and "mid-tempo downer" at a sweltering garage rock party where people are doing cannonballs into a pool.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Johnny Ray Huston |
09-16-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: The Mantles, indie pop
Inconvenient Truths Abound in Eco-Docs 'The Age of Stupid' and 'No Impact Man'new
So then, do the canvas bags, travel mugs, energy-saving appliances, clotheslines, CSA memberships, cycling, recycling, composting, and other ecologically minded efforts of a smattering of well-intentioned individuals matter at all? Or matter enough?
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Lynn Rapoport |
09-16-2009 |
Movies
The Withdrawn Narration of 'Liverpool' Moves With the Stealth Purpose of a Folk Talenew
Liverpool may belong to the slow club of cinema -- long takes, downcast eyes, and monumental landscapes -- but the friction between its patient formalism and wild terrain is anything but staid.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Max Goldberg |
09-16-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Lisandro Alonso, Liverpool
Bedbugs Attack: Bloodsuckers Have Become Public Health Problem in San Francisconew
Bedbugs are back and they're eating San Francisco alive, sticking their blood-hungry proboscises in transient gutter punks, international travelers, homeless people, doctors, lawyers, and yes ... maybe even you.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
John Eastland |
09-16-2009 |
Science
The Harshest Cut: Brutal Devastation of Clear-Cutting in the Sierra Continuesnew
A decade ago, logging and forestry practices in the Sierra were big news. Media reports, protests, and legislative action focused on Sierra Pacific Industries' practice of slicing through entire large tracts of land, hacking down every tree, bush, and seedling and leaving nothing but devastation behind. But most of the news media have long since moved on to other issues -- and the clear-cutting continues.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Cecile Lepage |
09-10-2009 |
Environment
Indie Idol Andrew Bujalski's 'Beeswax' is a Lo-Fi Standoutnew
Beeswax will surely lure Bujalski fans, but even those who think they hate mumblecore won't be disappointed by this tale. It's his best and most mature work to date, focusing on Austin, Texas twins Jeannie and Lauren.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Cheryl Eddy |
09-10-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Beeswax, Andrew Bujalski
The Water Wars: San Francisco Bay and the Delta Are Dying and It Might Get Worsenew
Years of massive water diversions are putting the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary at risk. Massive projects that take freshwater from the delta appear linked to declines in bay and delta fisheries, threatening not just endangered species but California's salmon fishing industry, which lost more than $250 million last year as a result of declining salmon runs.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Rebecca Bowe |
09-02-2009 |
Environment
'The Baader Meinhof Complex' Exhaustively Explores the Red Army Factionnew
Uli Edel's sober, clear-eyed view of the youthful and sexy yet arrogant and murderous, gun-toting radicals at the center of Baader-Meinhof's mythology -- a complex construct, indeed -- manages to do justice to the core of their sprawling chronology, while never overstating their narrative's obvious post-9/11 relevance.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Kimberly Chun |
09-02-2009 |
Reviews
'Big Machine' is a Big, Mean Story by Victor LaVallenew
Far from a standard dry examination of doubt and faith, Lavalle's allegorical approach is sweeping and swashbuckling. Big Machine takes us from Ricky's idyllic childhood -- sweet as saccharine, with a black tar of burn -- to his romantic nadir, dying in a puddle of piss and shit in the basement of a house owned by a man named Murder.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
D. Scot Miller |
09-02-2009 |
Fiction
'Still Walking' Observes a Family in Quiet Crisisnew
This is Kore-eda's most truly naturalistic, let alone Ozu-like film since his first -- the comparatively bleak 1995 Maborosi -- as well as a dysfunctional-family seriocomedy uncommonly beautiful inside and out. It's a quietly funny and insightful two hours capable of inducing one pretty ecstatic afterglow.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Dennis Harvey |
09-02-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Still Walking, Hirokazu Kore-eda
Are Party Girls Starting to Catch Up With the Boys When it Comes to Meth Use?new
In the early 2000s, crystal meth abuse became so rampant in San Francisco that city officials formed the Crystal Methamphetamine Task Force in 2005, which focused on the gay men's party circuit. But while the boys got the attention, the drug appears to now be taking an increased toll on women. Has focusing on men meant that women users aren't getting enough information on reducing harm?
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
C. Nellie Nelson |
08-19-2009 |
Drugs
'Methland' Tracks a Drug Through America's Cracks and Faultlinesnew
Meth is a drug with no celebrities, and Nick Reding treats his subjects with respect, despite close calls with former addicts who play disc golf with him one minute and threaten his life the next. But Methland's attempt to combine personal reflections on identity and place with an examination of the drug's role in a small town's economic struggles seems formally stale.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Brandon Bussolini |
08-19-2009 |
Nonfiction
Marijuana Decriminalization Moves Forward on Several Fronts in Californianew
Reform advocates are making an intriguing argument: if state or local governments legalize and tax even a fraction of marijuana sales, the state could see billions of dollars in new annual revenue and reduced enforcement costs.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Sarah Phelan |
08-19-2009 |
Drugs
Find Those Hoary Old Cult Movie Chestnuts Onlinenew
The San Francisco collective Cosmic Hex is committed to finding, archiving, and digitally preserving just those forgotten treasures of underground exploitation film.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Michael Krimper |
08-05-2009 |
Movies
The Algae Solutionnew
The San Francisco Bay may soon host a dramatic new environmental project that backers say could solve three problems at once: clean wastewater, remove carbon from the atmosphere, and produce biodiesel fuel.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Gabrielle Poccia |
08-05-2009 |
Environment
