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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>The Purge\u003c/em> for sex is the best way to describe the premise of \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> unless you prefer Shirley Jackson’s \u003cem>The Lottery\u003c/em> for one-night stands.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As the movie announces right away: The U.S. government has passed a mandate that premarital sex is illegal except for one night a year. For the past three years, sex out of wedlock has been off limits except for an annual 12-hour reprieve. “It’s been a lot,” reads the opening title cards.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Such a concept, naturally, spawns a lot of questions. How could such a policy be policed? Where, exactly, are the lines drawn? And why hasn’t everyone moved to Canada?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvKoSR3O4NQ\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em>, directed by Will Gluck (\u003cem>Easy A\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Anyone But You\u003c/em>), is less interested in extrapolating the potentially very bizarre ramifications of its dystopian concept than it is selling a surprisingly tame romantic tale. \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> may be dressed up as a raunchy sex comedy, but it’s a rom-com at heart, and a chaste one at that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That makes \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> a disappointingly denuded comedy without the gumption to interrogate its satirical gimmick. And yet its charming leads, Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner, do enough to keep \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> pleasantly watchable.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The health of the rom-com is perpetually debated, but one of the genre’s most abiding benefits is in giving young stars an uncluttered big-screen stage to shine on. Turner, the Bond-rumored British actor, has already appeared in one (also monogamy-friendly) rom-com in last year’s \u003cem>Eternity\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-2000x1333.png\" alt=\"A man holds a large pizza box on the sidewalk.\" class=\"wp-image-13992481\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-2000x1333.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-768x512.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-1536x1024.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-2048x1365.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Callum Turner in ‘One Night Only.’ (Universal Pictures)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> is an especially welcome showcase for Barbaro, who has thus far stood out largely in male-dominated ensembles (\u003cem>Top Gun: Maverick\u003c/em>, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13969721/a-complete-unknown-movie-review-timothee-chalamet\">A Complete Unknown\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13986802/crime-101-movie-review-mark-ruffalo-chris-hemsworth-heist-thriller\">Crime 101\u003c/a>\u003c/em>). So, while \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> is unlikely to be a standout in her filmography, it’s the one that most proves her lead-actor incandescence.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One of the biggest stretches in a movie full of them is that these two — neither of whom are exactly hard on the eyes — are among the only ones striking out on a night dedicated to scoring. Owen (Turner), who runs a Manhattan pizzeria, has his engagement plans thwarted when his longtime girlfriend (Maya Hawke) says she plans to sleep with someone else. Allie (Barbaro), meanwhile, is a single singer (she gets paid to belt out pharmaceutical jingles) who has to be coaxed by her friends into even going out.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Both are romantics on a night for flings. After bumping into each other and meeting on the street, they spend the night traversing New York, separately but often together, through nightclub escapades and condom shortages.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/8a404eeb-5865-4c76-a6ed-759732bf49a4-2000x1334.png\" alt=\"A woman in a sparkly dress pictured in green neon lights.\" class=\"wp-image-13992482\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/8a404eeb-5865-4c76-a6ed-759732bf49a4-2000x1334.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/8a404eeb-5865-4c76-a6ed-759732bf49a4-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/8a404eeb-5865-4c76-a6ed-759732bf49a4-768x512.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/8a404eeb-5865-4c76-a6ed-759732bf49a4-1536x1024.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/8a404eeb-5865-4c76-a6ed-759732bf49a4-2048x1366.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Monica Barbaro in ‘One Night Only.’ (Universal Pictures)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In Travis Braun’s high-concept script, the cleverest parody isn’t of conservative political intervention in private sex lives. It’s of a swipe-right sex culture, where old-fashioned romance is hard to find. But \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> — populated in product placement ads from Durex to K-Y — has little about it that suggests something particularly sincere.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Instead, \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> constantly feels like it’s narrowing its many possibilities. Early on, one character notes the night belongs to the straights because gay people long ago learned to circumvent repressive restrictions. Instead of widening its satire into contemporary sex life, Gluck’s film turns throwback, even leading to a climax atop a New York landmark.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>So \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> isn’t bawdy or trenchant enough for its concept or quite sweet enough for its romance. It’s more successful as a meta comedy about a pair of charismatic Hollywood stars reckoning with their onscreen sex appeal. Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell and Pete Davidson all make a kind of cameo. And on that score, neither Barbaro nor Turner have much to worry about.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hopefully, though, there are more \u003cem>Purge\u003c/em> riffs to come. One night only for … backgammon? Just imagine the chaos.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘One Night Only’ is released nationwide on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-2000x1333.png\" alt=\"A man holds a large pizza box on the sidewalk.\" class=\"wp-image-13992481\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-2000x1333.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-768x512.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-1536x1024.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-2048x1365.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Callum Turner in ‘One Night Only.’\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> is an especially welcome showcase for Barbaro, who has thus far stood out largely in male-dominated ensembles (\u003cem>Top Gun: Maverick\u003c/em>, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13969721/a-complete-unknown-movie-review-timothee-chalamet\">A Complete Unknown\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13986802/crime-101-movie-review-mark-ruffalo-chris-hemsworth-heist-thriller\">Crime 101\u003c/a>\u003c/em>). So, while \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> is unlikely to be a standout in her filmography, it’s the one that most proves her lead-actor incandescence.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>One of the biggest stretches in a movie full of them is that these two — neither of whom are exactly hard on the eyes — are among the only ones striking out on a night dedicated to scoring. Owen (Turner), who runs a Manhattan pizzeria, has his engagement plans thwarted when his longtime girlfriend (Maya Hawke) says she plans to sleep with someone else. Allie (Barbaro), meanwhile, is a single singer (she gets paid to belt out pharmaceutical jingles) who has to be coaxed by her friends into even going out.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>One of the biggest stretches in a movie full of them is that these two — neither of whom are exactly hard on the eyes — are among the only ones striking out on a night dedicated to scoring. Owen (Turner), who runs a Manhattan pizzeria, has his engagement plans thwarted when his longtime girlfriend (Maya Hawke) says she plans to sleep with someone else. Allie (Barbaro), meanwhile, is a single singer (she gets paid to belt out pharmaceutical jingles) who has to be coaxed by her friends into even going out.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Both are romantics on a night for flings. After bumping into each other and meeting on the street, they spend the night traversing New York, separately but often together, through nightclub escapades and condom shortages.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In Travis Braun’s high-concept script, the cleverest parody isn’t of conservative political intervention in private sex lives. It’s of a swipe-right sex culture, where old-fashioned romance is hard to find. But \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> — populated in product placement ads from Durex to K-Y — has little about it that suggests something particularly sincere.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Instead, \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> constantly feels like it’s narrowing its many possibilities. Early on, one character notes the night belongs to the straights because gay people long ago learned to circumvent repressive restrictions. Instead of widening its satire into contemporary sex life, Gluck’s film turns throwback, even leading to a climax atop a New York landmark.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Instead, \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> constantly feels like it’s narrowing its many possibilities. Early on, one character notes the night belongs to the straights because gay people long ago learned to circumvent repressive restrictions. Instead of widening its satire into contemporary sex life, Gluck’s film turns throwback, even leading to a climax atop a New York landmark.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>So \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> isn’t bawdy or trenchant enough for its concept or quite sweet enough for its romance. It’s more successful as a meta comedy about a pair of charismatic Hollywood stars reckoning with their onscreen sex appeal. Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell and Pete Davidson all make a kind of cameo. And on that score, neither Barbaro nor Turner have much to worry about.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>So \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> isn’t bawdy or trenchant enough for its concept or quite sweet enough for its romance. It’s more successful as a meta comedy about a pair of charismatic Hollywood stars reckoning with their onscreen sex appeal. Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell and Pete Davidson all make a kind of cameo. And on that score, neither Barbaro nor Turner have much to worry about.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Hopefully, though, there are more \u003cem>Purge\u003c/em> riffs to come. One night only for … backgammon? Just imagine the chaos.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘One Night Only’ is released nationwide on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner co-lead a new rom-com that can only be described as ‘The Purge’ for sex.",
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"title": "‘One Night Only’ Review: The Movie Teases, Its Stars Score | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>The Purge\u003c/em> for sex is the best way to describe the premise of \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> unless you prefer Shirley Jackson’s \u003cem>The Lottery\u003c/em> for one-night stands.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As the movie announces right away: The U.S. government has passed a mandate that premarital sex is illegal except for one night a year. For the past three years, sex out of wedlock has been off limits except for an annual 12-hour reprieve. “It’s been a lot,” reads the opening title cards.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Such a concept, naturally, spawns a lot of questions. How could such a policy be policed? Where, exactly, are the lines drawn? And why hasn’t everyone moved to Canada?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/AvKoSR3O4NQ'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/AvKoSR3O4NQ'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em>, directed by Will Gluck (\u003cem>Easy A\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Anyone But You\u003c/em>), is less interested in extrapolating the potentially very bizarre ramifications of its dystopian concept than it is selling a surprisingly tame romantic tale. \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> may be dressed up as a raunchy sex comedy, but it’s a rom-com at heart, and a chaste one at that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That makes \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> a disappointingly denuded comedy without the gumption to interrogate its satirical gimmick. And yet its charming leads, Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner, do enough to keep \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> pleasantly watchable.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The health of the rom-com is perpetually debated, but one of the genre’s most abiding benefits is in giving young stars an uncluttered big-screen stage to shine on. Turner, the Bond-rumored British actor, has already appeared in one (also monogamy-friendly) rom-com in last year’s \u003cem>Eternity\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-2000x1333.png\" alt=\"A man holds a large pizza box on the sidewalk.\" class=\"wp-image-13992481\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-2000x1333.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-768x512.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-1536x1024.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/f07f72ce-e46c-400a-8fb1-b31d3151532d-2048x1365.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Callum Turner in ‘One Night Only.’ (Universal Pictures)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> is an especially welcome showcase for Barbaro, who has thus far stood out largely in male-dominated ensembles (\u003cem>Top Gun: Maverick\u003c/em>, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13969721/a-complete-unknown-movie-review-timothee-chalamet\">A Complete Unknown\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13986802/crime-101-movie-review-mark-ruffalo-chris-hemsworth-heist-thriller\">Crime 101\u003c/a>\u003c/em>). So, while \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> is unlikely to be a standout in her filmography, it’s the one that most proves her lead-actor incandescence.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One of the biggest stretches in a movie full of them is that these two — neither of whom are exactly hard on the eyes — are among the only ones striking out on a night dedicated to scoring. Owen (Turner), who runs a Manhattan pizzeria, has his engagement plans thwarted when his longtime girlfriend (Maya Hawke) says she plans to sleep with someone else. Allie (Barbaro), meanwhile, is a single singer (she gets paid to belt out pharmaceutical jingles) who has to be coaxed by her friends into even going out.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Both are romantics on a night for flings. After bumping into each other and meeting on the street, they spend the night traversing New York, separately but often together, through nightclub escapades and condom shortages.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/8a404eeb-5865-4c76-a6ed-759732bf49a4-2000x1334.png\" alt=\"A woman in a sparkly dress pictured in green neon lights.\" class=\"wp-image-13992482\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/8a404eeb-5865-4c76-a6ed-759732bf49a4-2000x1334.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/8a404eeb-5865-4c76-a6ed-759732bf49a4-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/8a404eeb-5865-4c76-a6ed-759732bf49a4-768x512.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/8a404eeb-5865-4c76-a6ed-759732bf49a4-1536x1024.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/8a404eeb-5865-4c76-a6ed-759732bf49a4-2048x1366.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Monica Barbaro in ‘One Night Only.’ (Universal Pictures)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In Travis Braun’s high-concept script, the cleverest parody isn’t of conservative political intervention in private sex lives. It’s of a swipe-right sex culture, where old-fashioned romance is hard to find. But \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> — populated in product placement ads from Durex to K-Y — has little about it that suggests something particularly sincere.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Instead, \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> constantly feels like it’s narrowing its many possibilities. Early on, one character notes the night belongs to the straights because gay people long ago learned to circumvent repressive restrictions. Instead of widening its satire into contemporary sex life, Gluck’s film turns throwback, even leading to a climax atop a New York landmark.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>So \u003cem>One Night Only\u003c/em> isn’t bawdy or trenchant enough for its concept or quite sweet enough for its romance. It’s more successful as a meta comedy about a pair of charismatic Hollywood stars reckoning with their onscreen sex appeal. Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell and Pete Davidson all make a kind of cameo. And on that score, neither Barbaro nor Turner have much to worry about.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hopefully, though, there are more \u003cem>Purge\u003c/em> riffs to come. One night only for … backgammon? Just imagine the chaos.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘One Night Only’ is released nationwide on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A hot dog stand isn’t where one typically finds a lesson in Black film history. Recent visitors to Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood, however, have taken note of the business that’s replaced the long-empty Kasper’s hot dog shack on 46th and Telegraph: \u003ca href=\"https://winkydinkydogs.com/\">Winky Dinky Dogs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>To the uninitiated, the curious name might make little sense. But if you’ve seen Robert Townsend’s 1987 satire \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.balboamovies.com/calendar-of-events/hollywood-shuffle-august-5\">Hollywood Shuffle\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, which screens Aug. 5 at the Balboa Theater, you’ll recognize it as a reference to one of the most original and biting critiques of Hollywood’s racist machinations and depictions of Black stories on screen. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Townsend will present \u003cem>Hollywood Shuffle\u003c/em>, in person, to kick off the Balboa and 4-Star Theaters’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.balboamovies.com/robert-townsend-2026\">first-ever artist in residence series\u003c/a>. Encompassing nine films, four directed by and starring the filmmaker, the run includes Townsend’s introductions and post-screening Q&As with actors and directors like Boots Riley, Carl Franklin and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Ms1lNyWEaWF3WHcM9M2I13uO7qA3Uk_original.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13992352\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Ms1lNyWEaWF3WHcM9M2I13uO7qA3Uk_original.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Ms1lNyWEaWF3WHcM9M2I13uO7qA3Uk_original-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Ms1lNyWEaWF3WHcM9M2I13uO7qA3Uk_original-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Ms1lNyWEaWF3WHcM9M2I13uO7qA3Uk_original-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Ms1lNyWEaWF3WHcM9M2I13uO7qA3Uk_original-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">James Earl Jones, Diahann Carroll and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs star in ‘Claudine’ (1974), which provided an alternative to the Blaxploitation wave of the 1970s. (20th Century Fox)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jim Crow meets the Civil Rights era in the Aug. 6 pairing of \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.balboamovies.com/calendar-of-events/the-great-white-hope-august-6\">The Great White Hope\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (1970), about boxer Jack Johnson, with \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.balboamovies.com/calendar-of-events/in-the-heat-of-the-night-august-6\">In the Heat of the Night\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (1967), about a Mississippi murder investigation. Blaxploitation — in both the music industry and in film — are addressed directly and indirectly on Aug. 8, with \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.4-star-movies.com/calendar-of-events/the-five-heartbeats-sat\">The Five Heartbeats\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (1991) and \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.4-star-movies.com/calendar-of-events/claudine-sat\">Claudine\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (1974). \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And for a primer on how a major global power can be convinced to elect a reality TV star with no political experience as its president, Aug. 7 brings a timely twosome on media manipulation with \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.4-star-movies.com/calendar-of-events/a-face-in-the-crowd-fri\">A Face in the Crowd\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (1957) and \u003cem>Network\u003c/em> (1976). \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Closing with Townsend’s own 1990s films \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.4-star-movies.com/calendar-of-events/baps-sun\">B*A*P*S*\u003c/a>\u003c/em> and \u003cem>The Meteor Man\u003c/em>, the series is the first in what theater owners plan as an ongoing program, with future filmmakers curating and hosting. If a recent one-off screening with director Carl Franklin of \u003cem>Devil in a Blue Dress\u003c/em> is any indication, they’re also sure to be well-attended; getting there early is advised. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Robert Townsend hosts special screenings of his own films, plus his curated picks, Aug. 5–9 at the Balboa and 4-Star Theaters in San Francisco. \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.balboamovies.com/robert-townsend-2026\">\u003cem>Program details and screening times here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>To the uninitiated, the curious name might make little sense. But if you’ve seen Robert Townsend’s 1987 satire \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.balboamovies.com/calendar-of-events/hollywood-shuffle-august-5\">Hollywood Shuffle\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, which screens Aug. 5 at the Balboa Theater, you’ll recognize it as a reference to one of the most original and biting critiques of Hollywood’s racist machinations and depictions of Black stories on screen. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Closing with Townsend’s own 1990s films \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.4-star-movies.com/calendar-of-events/baps-sun\">B*A*P*S*\u003c/a>\u003c/em> and \u003cem>The Meteor Man\u003c/em>, the series is the first in what theater owners plan as an ongoing program, with future filmmakers curating and hosting. If a recent one-off screening with director Carl Franklin of \u003cem>Devil in a Blue Dress\u003c/em> is any indication, they’re also sure to be well-attended; getting there early is advised. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Robert Townsend hosts special screenings of his own films, plus his curated picks, Aug. 5–9 at the Balboa and 4-Star Theaters in San Francisco. \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.balboamovies.com/robert-townsend-2026\">\u003cem>Program details and screening times here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A hot dog stand isn’t where one typically finds a lesson in Black film history. Recent visitors to Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood, however, have taken note of the business that’s replaced the long-empty Kasper’s hot dog shack on 46th and Telegraph: \u003ca href=\"https://winkydinkydogs.com/\">Winky Dinky Dogs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>To the uninitiated, the curious name might make little sense. But if you’ve seen Robert Townsend’s 1987 satire \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.balboamovies.com/calendar-of-events/hollywood-shuffle-august-5\">Hollywood Shuffle\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, which screens Aug. 5 at the Balboa Theater, you’ll recognize it as a reference to one of the most original and biting critiques of Hollywood’s racist machinations and depictions of Black stories on screen. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Townsend will present \u003cem>Hollywood Shuffle\u003c/em>, in person, to kick off the Balboa and 4-Star Theaters’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.balboamovies.com/robert-townsend-2026\">first-ever artist in residence series\u003c/a>. Encompassing nine films, four directed by and starring the filmmaker, the run includes Townsend’s introductions and post-screening Q&As with actors and directors like Boots Riley, Carl Franklin and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Ms1lNyWEaWF3WHcM9M2I13uO7qA3Uk_original.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13992352\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Ms1lNyWEaWF3WHcM9M2I13uO7qA3Uk_original.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Ms1lNyWEaWF3WHcM9M2I13uO7qA3Uk_original-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Ms1lNyWEaWF3WHcM9M2I13uO7qA3Uk_original-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Ms1lNyWEaWF3WHcM9M2I13uO7qA3Uk_original-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Ms1lNyWEaWF3WHcM9M2I13uO7qA3Uk_original-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">James Earl Jones, Diahann Carroll and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs star in ‘Claudine’ (1974), which provided an alternative to the Blaxploitation wave of the 1970s. (20th Century Fox)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jim Crow meets the Civil Rights era in the Aug. 6 pairing of \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.balboamovies.com/calendar-of-events/the-great-white-hope-august-6\">The Great White Hope\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (1970), about boxer Jack Johnson, with \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.balboamovies.com/calendar-of-events/in-the-heat-of-the-night-august-6\">In the Heat of the Night\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (1967), about a Mississippi murder investigation. Blaxploitation — in both the music industry and in film — are addressed directly and indirectly on Aug. 8, with \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.4-star-movies.com/calendar-of-events/the-five-heartbeats-sat\">The Five Heartbeats\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (1991) and \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.4-star-movies.com/calendar-of-events/claudine-sat\">Claudine\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (1974). \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And for a primer on how a major global power can be convinced to elect a reality TV star with no political experience as its president, Aug. 7 brings a timely twosome on media manipulation with \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.4-star-movies.com/calendar-of-events/a-face-in-the-crowd-fri\">A Face in the Crowd\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (1957) and \u003cem>Network\u003c/em> (1976). \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Closing with Townsend’s own 1990s films \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.4-star-movies.com/calendar-of-events/baps-sun\">B*A*P*S*\u003c/a>\u003c/em> and \u003cem>The Meteor Man\u003c/em>, the series is the first in what theater owners plan as an ongoing program, with future filmmakers curating and hosting. If a recent one-off screening with director Carl Franklin of \u003cem>Devil in a Blue Dress\u003c/em> is any indication, they’re also sure to be well-attended; getting there early is advised. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Robert Townsend hosts special screenings of his own films, plus his curated picks, Aug. 5–9 at the Balboa and 4-Star Theaters in San Francisco. \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.balboamovies.com/robert-townsend-2026\">\u003cem>Program details and screening times here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Olivia Wilde Shines in Playful BDSM Comedy ‘I Want Your Sex’",
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"content": "\u003cp>Erika Tracy, the artist and provocateur at the heart of \u003cem>I Want Your Sex\u003c/em>, may be the most quotable fictional female executive since \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13989024/the-devil-wears-prada-sequel-review-stanley-tucci-meryl-streep-anne-hathaway\">Miranda Priestly\u003c/a> “that’s all-ed” her way into film history.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yes, sure, it is a little strange to compare a very buttoned-up character in a mass-audience, PG-13-rated movie with one in a very R-rated movie who is often topless, in bondage or toting a sex object around as an accessory. But like Miranda, Erika, brought to vibrant life by Olivia Wilde, has a withering glare, a commanding presence and killer timing. In fact, it is difficult to imagine anyone else in the role — nor would you want to.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This playfully provocative comedy about sex and generational divides from New Queer Cinema pioneer Gregg Araki (in theaters Friday), really lives and dies on the plausibility of Erika Tracy. She could have very easily just been an eccentric cartoon. While \u003cem>I Want Your Sex\u003c/em> takes nothing terribly seriously, you do have to buy the many outrageous things she says, and to care a bit about how and why she ends up floating naked, unconscious, face-down and likely dead, in her pool. If you are going to reference \u003cem>Sunset Boulevard\u003c/em> you might as well go big, right?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjkTmTmC1iA\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The noirish mystery propelling the narrative isn’t even really the point. Instead, Araki, who shares writing credits with Karley Sciortino, wants to talk about sex and the well-documented lack thereof among members of Generation Z. But, you know, in a sharp, humorous and outlandish way.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the spirit of going big, this is a movie that takes on Gen Z’s crisis of intimacy in the wildest and most inappropriate of ways: a sex-only, dom-sub relationship between an employer and her younger employee Elliot, played by Cooper Hoffman. It was all consensual, he stresses over and over again to the detectives (Johnny Knoxville and Margaret Cho) interviewing him. But it does also kind of ruin his life, at least for a little bit.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elliot is quite awkward, perhaps the least likely candidate for someone like Erika to hand-select for this anything-but-straightforward arrangement. He lives with his best friend Apple (Chase Sui Wonders) and has a girlfriend, Minerva (Charli xcx).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1081\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5-48-2000x1081.jpg\" alt=\"a woman wearing glasses reads a book in bed while her boyfriend looks at him\" class=\"wp-image-13992203\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5-48-2000x1081.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5-48-160x86.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5-48-768x415.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5-48-1536x830.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5-48-2048x1107.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Charli xcx and Cooper Hoffman in ‘I Want Your Sex.’ (Magnolia Pictures)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>But no one seems to be having sex. When Elliot proposes a little celebration after scoring the job at Erika’s gallery, Minerva complains that they just did it 11 days ago.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But his imagination is active and, soon, with Erika, the fantasies become real. Of course, it is only a matter of time before things get messy — there’s blood, tears, betrayal and maybe even murder. It is also self-consciously garish, an over-the-top satire of the art world and the personalities who encompass it, but the world is never not compelling, with fun supporting performances from the likes of Daveed Diggs and Mason Gooding. Wonders is also terrific, a ball of neuroses and repression, envious of Elliot’s exploits.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I’m not sure it reaches any profound conclusion about its topic, nor is it really trying to.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Sex is everything,” Erika says. “It’s also nothing.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Perhaps it’s just trying to remind everyone to lighten up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But it is a terrific platform for Wilde, who as an actor Hollywood never quite knew how to use properly. Often, the movies just wanted her to be hot, ignoring her obvious intelligence and comedic prowess. Araki’s film figures out how to use all her qualities in wildly entertaining fashion. It would make a natural double feature with her own directorial effort, \u003cem>The Invite\u003c/em>, which adds to the modern sex conversation but also shows another side to her talents and range. Wilde, it turns out, is a world-class comedienne who is, two decades into her career, coming into her own.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘I Want Your Sex’ is released nationwide on July 31, 2026.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Yes, sure, it is a little strange to compare a very buttoned-up character in a mass-audience, PG-13-rated movie with one in a very R-rated movie who is often topless, in bondage or toting a sex object around as an accessory. But like Miranda, Erika, brought to vibrant life by Olivia Wilde, has a withering glare, a commanding presence and killer timing. In fact, it is difficult to imagine anyone else in the role — nor would you want to.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This playfully provocative comedy about sex and generational divides from New Queer Cinema pioneer Gregg Araki (in theaters Friday), really lives and dies on the plausibility of Erika Tracy. She could have very easily just been an eccentric cartoon. While \u003cem>I Want Your Sex\u003c/em> takes nothing terribly seriously, you do have to buy the many outrageous things she says, and to care a bit about how and why she ends up floating naked, unconscious, face-down and likely dead, in her pool. If you are going to reference \u003cem>Sunset Boulevard\u003c/em> you might as well go big, right?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The noirish mystery propelling the narrative isn’t even really the point. Instead, Araki, who shares writing credits with Karley Sciortino, wants to talk about sex and the well-documented lack thereof among members of Generation Z. But, you know, in a sharp, humorous and outlandish way.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the spirit of going big, this is a movie that takes on Gen Z’s crisis of intimacy in the wildest and most inappropriate of ways: a sex-only, dom-sub relationship between an employer and her younger employee Elliot, played by Cooper Hoffman. It was all consensual, he stresses over and over again to the detectives (Johnny Knoxville and Margaret Cho) interviewing him. But it does also kind of ruin his life, at least for a little bit.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Elliot is quite awkward, perhaps the least likely candidate for someone like Erika to hand-select for this anything-but-straightforward arrangement. He lives with his best friend Apple (Chase Sui Wonders) and has a girlfriend, Minerva (Charli xcx).\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But no one seems to be having sex. When Elliot proposes a little celebration after scoring the job at Erika’s gallery, Minerva complains that they just did it 11 days ago.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But his imagination is active and, soon, with Erika, the fantasies become real. Of course, it is only a matter of time before things get messy — there’s blood, tears, betrayal and maybe even murder. It is also self-consciously garish, an over-the-top satire of the art world and the personalities who encompass it, but the world is never not compelling, with fun supporting performances from the likes of Daveed Diggs and Mason Gooding. Wonders is also terrific, a ball of neuroses and repression, envious of Elliot’s exploits.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Sex is everything,” Erika says. “It’s also nothing.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Erika Tracy, the artist and provocateur at the heart of \u003cem>I Want Your Sex\u003c/em>, may be the most quotable fictional female executive since \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13989024/the-devil-wears-prada-sequel-review-stanley-tucci-meryl-streep-anne-hathaway\">Miranda Priestly\u003c/a> “that’s all-ed” her way into film history.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yes, sure, it is a little strange to compare a very buttoned-up character in a mass-audience, PG-13-rated movie with one in a very R-rated movie who is often topless, in bondage or toting a sex object around as an accessory. But like Miranda, Erika, brought to vibrant life by Olivia Wilde, has a withering glare, a commanding presence and killer timing. In fact, it is difficult to imagine anyone else in the role — nor would you want to.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This playfully provocative comedy about sex and generational divides from New Queer Cinema pioneer Gregg Araki (in theaters Friday), really lives and dies on the plausibility of Erika Tracy. She could have very easily just been an eccentric cartoon. While \u003cem>I Want Your Sex\u003c/em> takes nothing terribly seriously, you do have to buy the many outrageous things she says, and to care a bit about how and why she ends up floating naked, unconscious, face-down and likely dead, in her pool. If you are going to reference \u003cem>Sunset Boulevard\u003c/em> you might as well go big, right?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/kjkTmTmC1iA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/kjkTmTmC1iA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The noirish mystery propelling the narrative isn’t even really the point. Instead, Araki, who shares writing credits with Karley Sciortino, wants to talk about sex and the well-documented lack thereof among members of Generation Z. But, you know, in a sharp, humorous and outlandish way.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the spirit of going big, this is a movie that takes on Gen Z’s crisis of intimacy in the wildest and most inappropriate of ways: a sex-only, dom-sub relationship between an employer and her younger employee Elliot, played by Cooper Hoffman. It was all consensual, he stresses over and over again to the detectives (Johnny Knoxville and Margaret Cho) interviewing him. But it does also kind of ruin his life, at least for a little bit.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elliot is quite awkward, perhaps the least likely candidate for someone like Erika to hand-select for this anything-but-straightforward arrangement. He lives with his best friend Apple (Chase Sui Wonders) and has a girlfriend, Minerva (Charli xcx).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1081\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5-48-2000x1081.jpg\" alt=\"a woman wearing glasses reads a book in bed while her boyfriend looks at him\" class=\"wp-image-13992203\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5-48-2000x1081.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5-48-160x86.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5-48-768x415.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5-48-1536x830.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/5-48-2048x1107.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Charli xcx and Cooper Hoffman in ‘I Want Your Sex.’ (Magnolia Pictures)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>But no one seems to be having sex. When Elliot proposes a little celebration after scoring the job at Erika’s gallery, Minerva complains that they just did it 11 days ago.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But his imagination is active and, soon, with Erika, the fantasies become real. Of course, it is only a matter of time before things get messy — there’s blood, tears, betrayal and maybe even murder. It is also self-consciously garish, an over-the-top satire of the art world and the personalities who encompass it, but the world is never not compelling, with fun supporting performances from the likes of Daveed Diggs and Mason Gooding. Wonders is also terrific, a ball of neuroses and repression, envious of Elliot’s exploits.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I’m not sure it reaches any profound conclusion about its topic, nor is it really trying to.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Sex is everything,” Erika says. “It’s also nothing.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Perhaps it’s just trying to remind everyone to lighten up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But it is a terrific platform for Wilde, who as an actor Hollywood never quite knew how to use properly. Often, the movies just wanted her to be hot, ignoring her obvious intelligence and comedic prowess. Araki’s film figures out how to use all her qualities in wildly entertaining fashion. It would make a natural double feature with her own directorial effort, \u003cem>The Invite\u003c/em>, which adds to the modern sex conversation but also shows another side to her talents and range. Wilde, it turns out, is a world-class comedienne who is, two decades into her career, coming into her own.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘I Want Your Sex’ is released nationwide on July 31, 2026.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Luis Valdez was just a young boy when he landed his first theatrical role. Before he could join his classmates on stage, however, his family was evicted on short notice, and forced to move.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>All these years later, Valdez, one of 10 children of California migrant farmworkers, still remembers the pain. He could have slipped down the hole of disappointment. Instead, he says, “It became the hungry mouth of my creativity.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In David Alvarado’s crisply entertaining documentary \u003cem>American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez\u003c/em>, ample justice is given to a gifted artist who transcended his circumstances and carved new trails. The film, which earlier this year won an Audience Award at Sundance, opens Friday, July 31 at the Roxie Theater with director David Alvarado and Valdez himself on hand.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Delano, California-born Valdez wrote and directed plays for El Teatro Campesino (The Farm Workers Theatre), which he founded in his early 20s and led for decades. His major works include \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> (the first Chicano play on Broadway, later adapted into a film) and \u003cem>Corridos! Tales of Passion and Revolution\u003c/em>, a hit at San Francisco’s Marines Memorial Theater in the early ’80s (and which Valdez adapted a few years later for PBS).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Valdez’s most widely seen work, however, is \u003cem>La Bamba\u003c/em>, the 1987 biopic of Chicano rock ‘n’ roller Richie Valens that Valdez researched, wrote and directed. (Among its other lasting merits, the film also yielded Los Lobos’ hit cover of the title track.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_02.jpg\" alt=\"Four men, outdoors and seen from below, act out a scene dressed in simple clothes and wearing signs around their neck to indicate which group they belong to.\" class=\"wp-image-13992059\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_02.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_02-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_02-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_02-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_02-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Luis Valdez (center) performing with El Teatro Campensino with Felipe Cantu (left) and Danny Valdez (right) in a scene from the documentary ‘American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez.’ (Courtesy of the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center at California State University, Northridge)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez\u003c/em> employs two narrators. Valdez, sharp and jovial in his mid-80s, recalls his youthful stint with the San Francisco Mime Troupe before getting involved in the nascent National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) founded by Cesar Chavez in 1962. The Mime Troupe’s influence colors Valdez’s early plays like \u003cem>The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa\u003c/em>, which used absurdist comedy to depict the economic and social situation of Mexican and Mexican-American laborers and their families.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the catalytic NFWA march to Sacramento in the spring of 1966, El Teatro Campesino performed in many places along the route, attracting new participants to the cause. Chavez, meanwhile, decided he needed organizers and activists for NFWA’s expanding national campaign more than he needed actors, and Valdez and his cohorts set off on their own, making San Juan Bautista their base.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>David Alvarado illustrates this splendid oral history with acres of compelling archival footage — the young Valdez, sporting an omnipresent Che Guevara-esque cigar, is charming and charismatic. Alvarado bolsters this through interviews with NFWA luminary Dolores Huerta, as well as Valdez’s brother and wife, who performed with El Teatro Campesino.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Alvarado also makes an unexpected and rather risky choice. He invites a second narrator, a streetwise commentator, to this genially mannered affair: a pachuco, similar to the swaggering L.A. protagonist of \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em>, a 1940s “street cat with style.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For that play, Valdez drew on grim, forgotten events in Southern California history, namely the Sleepy Lagoon murder that preceded the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. The riots consisted of servicemen and sailors attacking Mexican-American youths and ripping off their clothes – their justification being that zoot suits used an excessive and “unpatriotic” amount of fabric during wartime rationing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It was blatant racism, of course. The zoot suit, in the ’40s and in Valdez’s play, was an expression of identity and style. It was adopted by guys whose parents worked menial jobs to make a better life for their kids. (Like the fieldwork of the ’60s and the stockyard labor of today, the jobs were essential, arduous and largely performed by immigrants.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This is the quintessential American phenomenon — children of immigrants navigating racist treatment on the slow path to assimilation. The zoot suiters of the ’40s, just like the newly minted Chicanos of the ’60s, were simply trying to make their way.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_03.jpg\" alt=\"An older latino man in a Black jacket and glasses sits inside a high-ceiling church-like building, with chandeliers and wooden features\" class=\"wp-image-13992061\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_03.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_03-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_03-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_03-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_03-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Luis Valdez being interviewed in a scene from the documentary ‘American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez.’ \u003cbr> (Frasier Bradshaw)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A recurring thread of \u003cem>American Pachuco\u003c/em> is the divergent path of Luis Valdez’s older brother Frank, a science whiz who became an Air Force engineer. Frank believed that achieving the American dream was his ticket to burying and denying his roots as a child of farmworkers. No matter what he accomplished, though, the racism he encountered reminded him that many people saw him as Mexican, not American.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One of the functions of the documentary’s pachuco commentator (voiced by \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> star Edward James Olmos) is to mirror Valdez’s affection for knocking down the fourth wall separating the audience from the performers. His early plays included improvisation and audience participation. The protagonist of \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> famously addresses and confronts the audience directly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>By including the pachuco, I think Alvarado is nodding to Valdez’s sophistication as a writer and director. He was not only well-versed in the dynamics of agitprop and commedia del’arte, but in the theory and philosophy of theater. This intellectual component of Valdez’s practice — alluded to when the visionary director Peter Brook visits El Teatro Campesino — is downplayed in the documentary, as if it might distract us from the hard lessons of the fields and the streets. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The second half of \u003cem>American Pachuco\u003c/em> walks us backstage for Valdez’s greatest hits, \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> and \u003cem>La Bamba\u003c/em>. The L.A. triumph of \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> is the film’s highpoint, a moment of public celebration of Chicanos as well as of Valdez, while the New York reviewers’ failure to connect with the culture and language led to them criticizing what they couldn’t understand.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the wake of the \u003cem>pachucos\u003c/em>, Richie Valens emerged in the ’50s with, as one interviewee notes, “Different threads. Different beats. But he had the same swagger.” It’s fair to say that Luis Valdez got past his devastating childhood letdown the same way: through talent and swagger.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez’ opens Friday, July 31, at the \u003ca href=\"https://roxie.com/film/american-pachuco-the-legend-of-luis-valdez/\">Roxie Theater\u003c/a> (3116 16th St., San Francisco). Following the 6:10 p.m. screening, Roberto Hernandez moderates a Q&A with Luis Valdez and filmmakers David Alvarado, Everett Katigbak and Lauren DeFilippo.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Further Q&As with Alvarado take place on Saturday, Aug. 1 at the \u003ca href=\"https://rafaelfilm.cafilm.org/american-pachuco/\">Smith Rafael Film Center\u003c/a> in San Rafael; Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 1 and 2, at \u003ca href=\"https://rialtocinemas.com/now-playing-elm/american-pachuco-elm/\">Rialto Cinemas Elmwood\u003c/a> in Berkeley; and Sunday, Aug. 2, again at the Roxie\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Delano, California-born Valdez wrote and directed plays for El Teatro Campesino (The Farm Workers Theatre), which he founded in his early 20s and led for decades. His major works include \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> (the first Chicano play on Broadway, later adapted into a film) and \u003cem>Corridos! Tales of Passion and Revolution\u003c/em>, a hit at San Francisco’s Marines Memorial Theater in the early ’80s (and which Valdez adapted a few years later for PBS).\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez\u003c/em> employs two narrators. Valdez, sharp and jovial in his mid-80s, recalls his youthful stint with the San Francisco Mime Troupe before getting involved in the nascent National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) founded by Cesar Chavez in 1962. The Mime Troupe’s influence colors Valdez’s early plays like \u003cem>The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa\u003c/em>, which used absurdist comedy to depict the economic and social situation of Mexican and Mexican-American laborers and their families.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez\u003c/em> employs two narrators. Valdez, sharp and jovial in his mid-80s, recalls his youthful stint with the San Francisco Mime Troupe before getting involved in the nascent National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) founded by Cesar Chavez in 1962. The Mime Troupe’s influence colors Valdez’s early plays like \u003cem>The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa\u003c/em>, which used absurdist comedy to depict the economic and social situation of Mexican and Mexican-American laborers and their families.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>During the catalytic NFWA march to Sacramento in the spring of 1966, El Teatro Campesino performed in many places along the route, attracting new participants to the cause. Chavez, meanwhile, decided he needed organizers and activists for NFWA’s expanding national campaign more than he needed actors, and Valdez and his cohorts set off on their own, making San Juan Bautista their base.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>During the catalytic NFWA march to Sacramento in the spring of 1966, El Teatro Campesino performed in many places along the route, attracting new participants to the cause. Chavez, meanwhile, decided he needed organizers and activists for NFWA’s expanding national campaign more than he needed actors, and Valdez and his cohorts set off on their own, making San Juan Bautista their base.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>David Alvarado illustrates this splendid oral history with acres of compelling archival footage — the young Valdez, sporting an omnipresent Che Guevara-esque cigar, is charming and charismatic. Alvarado bolsters this through interviews with NFWA luminary Dolores Huerta, as well as Valdez’s brother and wife, who performed with El Teatro Campesino.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>David Alvarado illustrates this splendid oral history with acres of compelling archival footage — the young Valdez, sporting an omnipresent Che Guevara-esque cigar, is charming and charismatic. Alvarado bolsters this through interviews with NFWA luminary Dolores Huerta, as well as Valdez’s brother and wife, who performed with El Teatro Campesino.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Alvarado also makes an unexpected and rather risky choice. He invites a second narrator, a streetwise commentator, to this genially mannered affair: a pachuco, similar to the swaggering L.A. protagonist of \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em>, a 1940s “street cat with style.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Alvarado also makes an unexpected and rather risky choice. He invites a second narrator, a streetwise commentator, to this genially mannered affair: a pachuco, similar to the swaggering L.A. protagonist of \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em>, a 1940s “street cat with style.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For that play, Valdez drew on grim, forgotten events in Southern California history, namely the Sleepy Lagoon murder that preceded the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. The riots consisted of servicemen and sailors attacking Mexican-American youths and ripping off their clothes – their justification being that zoot suits used an excessive and “unpatriotic” amount of fabric during wartime rationing.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>For that play, Valdez drew on grim, forgotten events in Southern California history, namely the Sleepy Lagoon murder that preceded the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. The riots consisted of servicemen and sailors attacking Mexican-American youths and ripping off their clothes – their justification being that zoot suits used an excessive and “unpatriotic” amount of fabric during wartime rationing.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It was blatant racism, of course. The zoot suit, in the ’40s and in Valdez’s play, was an expression of identity and style. It was adopted by guys whose parents worked menial jobs to make a better life for their kids. (Like the fieldwork of the ’60s and the stockyard labor of today, the jobs were essential, arduous and largely performed by immigrants.)\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>It was blatant racism, of course. The zoot suit, in the ’40s and in Valdez’s play, was an expression of identity and style. It was adopted by guys whose parents worked menial jobs to make a better life for their kids. (Like the fieldwork of the ’60s and the stockyard labor of today, the jobs were essential, arduous and largely performed by immigrants.)\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This is the quintessential American phenomenon — children of immigrants navigating racist treatment on the slow path to assimilation. The zoot suiters of the ’40s, just like the newly minted Chicanos of the ’60s, were simply trying to make their way.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This is the quintessential American phenomenon — children of immigrants navigating racist treatment on the slow path to assimilation. The zoot suiters of the ’40s, just like the newly minted Chicanos of the ’60s, were simply trying to make their way.\u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_03.jpg\" alt=\"An older latino man in a Black jacket and glasses sits inside a high-ceiling church-like building, with chandeliers and wooden features\" class=\"wp-image-13992061\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Luis Valdez being interviewed in a scene from the documentary ‘American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez.’ \u003cbr>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A recurring thread of \u003cem>American Pachuco\u003c/em> is the divergent path of Luis Valdez’s older brother Frank, a science whiz who became an Air Force engineer. Frank believed that achieving the American dream was his ticket to burying and denying his roots as a child of farmworkers. No matter what he accomplished, though, the racism he encountered reminded him that many people saw him as Mexican, not American.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>A recurring thread of \u003cem>American Pachuco\u003c/em> is the divergent path of Luis Valdez’s older brother Frank, a science whiz who became an Air Force engineer. Frank believed that achieving the American dream was his ticket to burying and denying his roots as a child of farmworkers. No matter what he accomplished, though, the racism he encountered reminded him that many people saw him as Mexican, not American.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>One of the functions of the documentary’s pachuco commentator (voiced by \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> star Edward James Olmos) is to mirror Valdez’s affection for knocking down the fourth wall separating the audience from the performers. His early plays included improvisation and audience participation. The protagonist of \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> famously addresses and confronts the audience directly.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>One of the functions of the documentary’s pachuco commentator (voiced by \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> star Edward James Olmos) is to mirror Valdez’s affection for knocking down the fourth wall separating the audience from the performers. His early plays included improvisation and audience participation. The protagonist of \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> famously addresses and confronts the audience directly.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>By including the pachuco, I think Alvarado is nodding to Valdez’s sophistication as a writer and director. He was not only well-versed in the dynamics of agitprop and commedia del’arte, but in the theory and philosophy of theater. This intellectual component of Valdez’s practice — alluded to when the visionary director Peter Brook visits El Teatro Campesino — is downplayed in the documentary, as if it might distract us from the hard lessons of the fields and the streets. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>By including the pachuco, I think Alvarado is nodding to Valdez’s sophistication as a writer and director. He was not only well-versed in the dynamics of agitprop and commedia del’arte, but in the theory and philosophy of theater. This intellectual component of Valdez’s practice — alluded to when the visionary director Peter Brook visits El Teatro Campesino — is downplayed in the documentary, as if it might distract us from the hard lessons of the fields and the streets. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The second half of \u003cem>American Pachuco\u003c/em> walks us backstage for Valdez’s greatest hits, \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> and \u003cem>La Bamba\u003c/em>. The L.A. triumph of \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> is the film’s highpoint, a moment of public celebration of Chicanos as well as of Valdez, while the New York reviewers’ failure to connect with the culture and language led to them criticizing what they couldn’t understand.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The second half of \u003cem>American Pachuco\u003c/em> walks us backstage for Valdez’s greatest hits, \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> and \u003cem>La Bamba\u003c/em>. The L.A. triumph of \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> is the film’s highpoint, a moment of public celebration of Chicanos as well as of Valdez, while the New York reviewers’ failure to connect with the culture and language led to them criticizing what they couldn’t understand.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the wake of the \u003cem>pachucos\u003c/em>, Richie Valens emerged in the ’50s with, as one interviewee notes, “Different threads. Different beats. But he had the same swagger.” It’s fair to say that Luis Valdez got past his devastating childhood letdown the same way: through talent and swagger.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the wake of the \u003cem>pachucos\u003c/em>, Richie Valens emerged in the ’50s with, as one interviewee notes, “Different threads. Different beats. But he had the same swagger.” It’s fair to say that Luis Valdez got past his devastating childhood letdown the same way: through talent and swagger.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez’ opens Friday, July 31, at the \u003ca href=\"https://roxie.com/film/american-pachuco-the-legend-of-luis-valdez/\">Roxie Theater\u003c/a> (3116 16th St., San Francisco). Following the 6:10 p.m. screening, Roberto Hernandez moderates a Q&A with Luis Valdez and filmmakers David Alvarado, Everett Katigbak and Lauren DeFilippo.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez’ opens Friday, July 31, at the \u003ca href=\"https://roxie.com/film/american-pachuco-the-legend-of-luis-valdez/\">Roxie Theater\u003c/a> (3116 16th St., San Francisco). Following the 6:10 p.m. screening, Roberto Hernandez moderates a Q&A with Luis Valdez and filmmakers David Alvarado, Everett Katigbak and Lauren DeFilippo.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Further Q&As with Alvarado take place on Saturday, Aug. 1 at the \u003ca href=\"https://rafaelfilm.cafilm.org/american-pachuco/\">Smith Rafael Film Center\u003c/a> in San Rafael; Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 1 and 2, at \u003ca href=\"https://rialtocinemas.com/now-playing-elm/american-pachuco-elm/\">Rialto Cinemas Elmwood\u003c/a> in Berkeley; and Sunday, Aug. 2, again at the Roxie\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Further Q&As with Alvarado take place on Saturday, Aug. 1 at the \u003ca href=\"https://rafaelfilm.cafilm.org/american-pachuco/\">Smith Rafael Film Center\u003c/a> in San Rafael; Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 1 and 2, at \u003ca href=\"https://rialtocinemas.com/now-playing-elm/american-pachuco-elm/\">Rialto Cinemas Elmwood\u003c/a> in Berkeley; and Sunday, Aug. 2, again at the Roxie\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Luis Valdez was just a young boy when he landed his first theatrical role. Before he could join his classmates on stage, however, his family was evicted on short notice, and forced to move.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>All these years later, Valdez, one of 10 children of California migrant farmworkers, still remembers the pain. He could have slipped down the hole of disappointment. Instead, he says, “It became the hungry mouth of my creativity.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In David Alvarado’s crisply entertaining documentary \u003cem>American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez\u003c/em>, ample justice is given to a gifted artist who transcended his circumstances and carved new trails. The film, which earlier this year won an Audience Award at Sundance, opens Friday, July 31 at the Roxie Theater with director David Alvarado and Valdez himself on hand.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Delano, California-born Valdez wrote and directed plays for El Teatro Campesino (The Farm Workers Theatre), which he founded in his early 20s and led for decades. His major works include \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> (the first Chicano play on Broadway, later adapted into a film) and \u003cem>Corridos! Tales of Passion and Revolution\u003c/em>, a hit at San Francisco’s Marines Memorial Theater in the early ’80s (and which Valdez adapted a few years later for PBS).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Valdez’s most widely seen work, however, is \u003cem>La Bamba\u003c/em>, the 1987 biopic of Chicano rock ‘n’ roller Richie Valens that Valdez researched, wrote and directed. (Among its other lasting merits, the film also yielded Los Lobos’ hit cover of the title track.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_02.jpg\" alt=\"Four men, outdoors and seen from below, act out a scene dressed in simple clothes and wearing signs around their neck to indicate which group they belong to.\" class=\"wp-image-13992059\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_02.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_02-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_02-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_02-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_02-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Luis Valdez (center) performing with El Teatro Campensino with Felipe Cantu (left) and Danny Valdez (right) in a scene from the documentary ‘American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez.’ (Courtesy of the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center at California State University, Northridge)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez\u003c/em> employs two narrators. Valdez, sharp and jovial in his mid-80s, recalls his youthful stint with the San Francisco Mime Troupe before getting involved in the nascent National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) founded by Cesar Chavez in 1962. The Mime Troupe’s influence colors Valdez’s early plays like \u003cem>The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa\u003c/em>, which used absurdist comedy to depict the economic and social situation of Mexican and Mexican-American laborers and their families.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the catalytic NFWA march to Sacramento in the spring of 1966, El Teatro Campesino performed in many places along the route, attracting new participants to the cause. Chavez, meanwhile, decided he needed organizers and activists for NFWA’s expanding national campaign more than he needed actors, and Valdez and his cohorts set off on their own, making San Juan Bautista their base.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>David Alvarado illustrates this splendid oral history with acres of compelling archival footage — the young Valdez, sporting an omnipresent Che Guevara-esque cigar, is charming and charismatic. Alvarado bolsters this through interviews with NFWA luminary Dolores Huerta, as well as Valdez’s brother and wife, who performed with El Teatro Campesino.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Alvarado also makes an unexpected and rather risky choice. He invites a second narrator, a streetwise commentator, to this genially mannered affair: a pachuco, similar to the swaggering L.A. protagonist of \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em>, a 1940s “street cat with style.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For that play, Valdez drew on grim, forgotten events in Southern California history, namely the Sleepy Lagoon murder that preceded the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. The riots consisted of servicemen and sailors attacking Mexican-American youths and ripping off their clothes – their justification being that zoot suits used an excessive and “unpatriotic” amount of fabric during wartime rationing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It was blatant racism, of course. The zoot suit, in the ’40s and in Valdez’s play, was an expression of identity and style. It was adopted by guys whose parents worked menial jobs to make a better life for their kids. (Like the fieldwork of the ’60s and the stockyard labor of today, the jobs were essential, arduous and largely performed by immigrants.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This is the quintessential American phenomenon — children of immigrants navigating racist treatment on the slow path to assimilation. The zoot suiters of the ’40s, just like the newly minted Chicanos of the ’60s, were simply trying to make their way.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_03.jpg\" alt=\"An older latino man in a Black jacket and glasses sits inside a high-ceiling church-like building, with chandeliers and wooden features\" class=\"wp-image-13992061\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_03.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_03-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_03-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_03-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/americanpachuco_still_03-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Luis Valdez being interviewed in a scene from the documentary ‘American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez.’ \u003cbr> (Frasier Bradshaw)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A recurring thread of \u003cem>American Pachuco\u003c/em> is the divergent path of Luis Valdez’s older brother Frank, a science whiz who became an Air Force engineer. Frank believed that achieving the American dream was his ticket to burying and denying his roots as a child of farmworkers. No matter what he accomplished, though, the racism he encountered reminded him that many people saw him as Mexican, not American.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One of the functions of the documentary’s pachuco commentator (voiced by \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> star Edward James Olmos) is to mirror Valdez’s affection for knocking down the fourth wall separating the audience from the performers. His early plays included improvisation and audience participation. The protagonist of \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> famously addresses and confronts the audience directly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>By including the pachuco, I think Alvarado is nodding to Valdez’s sophistication as a writer and director. He was not only well-versed in the dynamics of agitprop and commedia del’arte, but in the theory and philosophy of theater. This intellectual component of Valdez’s practice — alluded to when the visionary director Peter Brook visits El Teatro Campesino — is downplayed in the documentary, as if it might distract us from the hard lessons of the fields and the streets. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The second half of \u003cem>American Pachuco\u003c/em> walks us backstage for Valdez’s greatest hits, \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> and \u003cem>La Bamba\u003c/em>. The L.A. triumph of \u003cem>Zoot Suit\u003c/em> is the film’s highpoint, a moment of public celebration of Chicanos as well as of Valdez, while the New York reviewers’ failure to connect with the culture and language led to them criticizing what they couldn’t understand.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the wake of the \u003cem>pachucos\u003c/em>, Richie Valens emerged in the ’50s with, as one interviewee notes, “Different threads. Different beats. But he had the same swagger.” It’s fair to say that Luis Valdez got past his devastating childhood letdown the same way: through talent and swagger.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez’ opens Friday, July 31, at the \u003ca href=\"https://roxie.com/film/american-pachuco-the-legend-of-luis-valdez/\">Roxie Theater\u003c/a> (3116 16th St., San Francisco). Following the 6:10 p.m. screening, Roberto Hernandez moderates a Q&A with Luis Valdez and filmmakers David Alvarado, Everett Katigbak and Lauren DeFilippo.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Further Q&As with Alvarado take place on Saturday, Aug. 1 at the \u003ca href=\"https://rafaelfilm.cafilm.org/american-pachuco/\">Smith Rafael Film Center\u003c/a> in San Rafael; Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 1 and 2, at \u003ca href=\"https://rialtocinemas.com/now-playing-elm/american-pachuco-elm/\">Rialto Cinemas Elmwood\u003c/a> in Berkeley; and Sunday, Aug. 2, again at the Roxie\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "splash-city-movie-galaxy-brooks-berner-bipping-san-francisco",
"title": "In ‘Splash City,’ Actor Galaxy Brooks Brings Firsthand Knowledge of the Streets",
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"headTitle": "In ‘Splash City,’ Actor Galaxy Brooks Brings Firsthand Knowledge of the Streets | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The crime drama \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27666105/\">\u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em>\u003c/a> is a feature film with local star power, glossy cinematography and a dark storyline about an issue that has long plagued the Bay Area: \u003ca href=\"https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/let-me-show-you-how-to-bip-tracing-the-origins-of-hip-hop-favorite-new-word/\">bippin\u003c/a>‘.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Car windows are shattered. Backpacks are snatched. Underbuckets bend corners through busy San Francisco streets. There’s guns, sex, big money and high stakes. \u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em>, written and directed by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/berner415/?hl=en\">Berner\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6484571/?ref_=tt_ov_1_2\">Alex Ferrufino\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7229790/?ref_=tt_ov_2_2\">David Mansanalez\u003c/a> (and distributed by Lionsgate), also features an affecting performance by Oakland lyricist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/babygas/\">Baby Gas\u003c/a>, a cameo from Pinole-raised producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13971354/p-lo-for-the-soil-warriors-golden-state-entertainment-nba-all-star-weekend\">P-Lo\u003c/a> and a brief appearance by Fillmore rapper \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mobetta__mochedda/?hl=en\">Ronski Mayfield\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But it’s the film’s antagonist who embodies an archetype often seen in hood films. Through him, \u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em> brings into focus real-life issues caused by wealth inequality in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"834\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01166R.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991926\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01166R.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01166R-160x67.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01166R-768x320.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01166R-1536x641.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Reed Shannon as Julian ‘Juju’ Johnson and Quincy ‘Galaxy’ Brooks as Darnell ‘Dolo’ Ferguson in ‘Splash City.’ (Courtesy of Lionsgate)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It was a time in my life where I was waking up and bippin’ all day,” says \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DbBmf7ovBO6/\">Quincy “Galaxy” Brooks\u003c/a> today. “That’s how I was getting my money to eat.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Brooks, a 27 year-old rapper and son of San Francisco hip-hop legend \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-quinn\">San Quinn\u003c/a>, plays the menacing role of Darnell “Dolo” Ferguson in the film. As the ultimate bad guy, his character is a wolf in high-end clothing, tattoos and shiny jewels.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To prepare for the role, Brooks relied on his own lived experiences, and his mother’s mentality from a time when she, too, was forced to navigate all the streets entail. Lastly, Brooks says, he was heavily influenced by the iconic role Tupac played in 1992 film \u003cem>Juice\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I was like ‘I want make that new millennium 2026 Bishop,’” says Brooks, adding that he watched \u003cem>Juice\u003c/em> over a dozen times before taking the role of Dolo. In doing so, he saw beyond the ruthless character on the screen and identified with Tupac the person, a young rapper and actor influenced by the Bay’s culture. Tupac brought a certain “ummph” with him to the set of the film, says Brooks, and “that’s the same thing I wanted to do for Dolo.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"834\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00886R.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991933\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00886R.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00886R-160x67.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00886R-768x320.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00886R-1536x641.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Reed Shannon as Julian ‘Juju’ Johnson in ‘Splash City. ’ (Lionsgate)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em>, Dolo is a headstrong character who holds a boss-like influence in the community. He pays for a couple younger homies’ jewelry when their stolen credit card is declined. He also does scandalous stuff to the younger ring of thieves, cutting them short on loads of cash because he runs the operation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As the film’s story unfolds, a chain of events pits Dolo against a childhood friend and rising hoop star, Elijah “Slim” Johnson (\u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7094722/?ref_=tt_cst_t_8\">Zach Sowers\u003c/a>). Eventually, Slim’s brother and the main protagonist of the film, Julian “Juju” Johnson (\u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5476739/?ref_=tt_cst_t_2\">Reed Shannon\u003c/a>), steps up to bring Dolo to justice — but not before Dolo and his hot temper wreak havoc on the community.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As the outspoken live wire of the crew, Dolo is an archetype that we’ve seen before. Similar to Bishop in \u003cem>Juice\u003c/em>, O-Dog in \u003cem>Menace II Society\u003c/em> or Bundy in \u003cem>Belly\u003c/em>, he’s a Black man who’s both charismatic and a crashout. Full of ego and rage, he overly flexes his power to get revenge on those who once made him feel powerless.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"834\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01655R.jpg\" alt=\"A young Black man in a beanie has a terrified look as a pistol is aimed at his face in a darkly-lit room\" class=\"wp-image-13991927\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01655R.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01655R-160x67.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01655R-768x320.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01655R-1536x641.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Quincy ‘Galaxy’ Brooks as Darnell ‘Dolo’ Ferguson in ‘Splash City.’ Brooks, the son of San Francisco rapper San Quinn, drew on real-life experiences for the role. (Lionsgate)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Thanks to Brooks’ performance, even as Dolo goes off the deep end, his character retains a relatable humanity.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“\u003cem>I know that dude\u003c/em>,” Brooks says, explaining his familiarity with the role, which he landed in a circuitous way. Initially in contact with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/berner415/?hl=en\">Berner\u003c/a> (founder of the Cookies cannabis brand and San Francisco hip-hop artist) to play the role of Preach in the film, he heard Dolo described as “a young street dude from the city — the wild one.” Brooks said to himself: “I feel like I do that real good.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He and his younger brother Zakee “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/h2othawave/\">H20\u003c/a>” Brooks, who raps with Brooks in a group called \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JnWE3QX96U\">THA SOULJAS\u003c/a>, each auditioned multiple times before being awarded roles in the film. “I wasn’t \u003cem>that\u003c/em> deeply involved in the streets,” the older Brooks says, contrasting his life with Dolo’s.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In order to really tap into that cutthroat mentality, he looked to his mother, Cheryl-T.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“My mom was ruthless out here on the streets,” says Brooks, adding that she’s done it all, from robberies to theft, all as a means of survival.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://youtu.be/Vrze2vx3avI?si=O3TLrzX2trGkEztl\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As a child, Brooks’ mom moved from New Orleans to the West Point housing projects in Bayview-Hunters Point. She later lived in the notorious Harbor Road projects before being kicked out of the house at age 13. She became a parent while still young, mothering two children before Brooks, plus his younger brother soon after.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As a mom, Brooks says, Cheryl-T stole school clothes to ensure the kids had fresh fits in the classroom. She took football pads from the store to make sure Brooks had the gear he needed when he stepped on the gridiron.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“My mom made everything happen, by any means necessary,” says Brooks. Even as she settled down and found legal employment, Brooks saw her adapt that same hard-won “I’m gonna do what I have to do to make sure my kids get by” mentality in the corporate world.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“And Dolo was that same type of dude,” Brooks says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“He’s a dude of logic,” explains Brooks, adding that he’s also “a little bit of a dictator.” Despite Dolo’s immoral actions throughout the film, Brooks says, there’s a certain rationale to his logic, based upon the circumstances from which he comes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Ultimately, Brooks says, Dolo’s downfall is that he wants it all. “He didn’t know how to be a team player,” Brooks tells me. “There \u003cem>was\u003c/em> an ‘I’ in ‘team’ for Dolo.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"834\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00165R.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991932\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00165R.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00165R-160x67.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00165R-768x320.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00165R-1536x641.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Reed Shannon as Julian ‘Juju’ Johnson and Zach Sowers as Elijah ‘Slim’ Johnson in ‘Splash City.’ (Lionsgate)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Even with Dolo’s snake-like mentality, many viewers may find themselves siding with him at times, much like Bundy in \u003cem>Belly\u003c/em> or Bishop in \u003cem>Juice\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I think we all have a little Bishop or O-Dog or Dolo in us,” says Brooks. A lot of folks have experienced the feeling of being pushed to the limit. “Especially as Black people, just because all the scrutiny and hardships. Dolo is just a young dude who’s been through hardships and isn’t turning down no more.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What’s more human than navigating an oppressive system by taking vengeance out on those in close proximity? In the Bay Area, where the chasm between the haves and have nots is wider than the Salesforce Tower laying on its side, it’s no wonder that people wielding a spark plug are preying on the parked vehicles of others.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bippin’ has been around for years. At this point, if you haven’t had your car window busted, it means you ride a bike to get around. People readily live in worry that they might be the next victim. It’s nearly impossible to get audiences to feel empathy for the head of a crime syndicate focused on burglarizing vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Dolo is a foul snake. But somehow, in \u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em>, you can \u003cem>lightweight\u003c/em> understand where he’s coming from.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I think the reason he’s got that likability,” Brooks says, reflecting on his role, “is because I was able to add a little bit of myself in there.” Brooks credits the directors for allowing him to bring his full self to his first acting role, and for pushing him to “humanize” Dolo.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I didn’t want him to be a ruthless murderer,” says Brooks. “He has a conscience too.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>‘\u003cem>Splash City’ is currently showing at select theaters nationwide, with upcoming screenings on \u003ca href=\"https://www.amctheatres.com/showtimes/145059063/seats\">Friday, July 31\u003c/a> in San José and \u003ca href=\"https://www.amctheatres.com/showtimes/145059056/seats\">Saturday, Aug. 1\u003c/a> in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/splashcitythemovie/\">Screening times and more information here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Car windows are shattered. Backpacks are snatched. Underbuckets bend corners through busy San Francisco streets. There’s guns, sex, big money and high stakes. \u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em>, written and directed by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/berner415/?hl=en\">Berner\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6484571/?ref_=tt_ov_1_2\">Alex Ferrufino\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7229790/?ref_=tt_ov_2_2\">David Mansanalez\u003c/a> (and distributed by Lionsgate), also features an affecting performance by Oakland lyricist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/babygas/\">Baby Gas\u003c/a>, a cameo from Pinole-raised producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13971354/p-lo-for-the-soil-warriors-golden-state-entertainment-nba-all-star-weekend\">P-Lo\u003c/a> and a brief appearance by Fillmore rapper \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mobetta__mochedda/?hl=en\">Ronski Mayfield\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Car windows are shattered. Backpacks are snatched. Underbuckets bend corners through busy San Francisco streets. There’s guns, sex, big money and high stakes. \u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em>, written and directed by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/berner415/?hl=en\">Berner\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6484571/?ref_=tt_ov_1_2\">Alex Ferrufino\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7229790/?ref_=tt_ov_2_2\">David Mansanalez\u003c/a> (and distributed by Lionsgate), also features an affecting performance by Oakland lyricist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/babygas/\">Baby Gas\u003c/a>, a cameo from Pinole-raised producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13971354/p-lo-for-the-soil-warriors-golden-state-entertainment-nba-all-star-weekend\">P-Lo\u003c/a> and a brief appearance by Fillmore rapper \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mobetta__mochedda/?hl=en\">Ronski Mayfield\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But it’s the film’s antagonist who embodies an archetype often seen in hood films. Through him, \u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em> brings into focus real-life issues caused by wealth inequality in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But it’s the film’s antagonist who embodies an archetype often seen in hood films. Through him, \u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em> brings into focus real-life issues caused by wealth inequality in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01166R.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991926\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01166R.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01166R-160x67.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01166R-768x320.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01166R-1536x641.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Reed Shannon as Julian ‘Juju’ Johnson and Quincy ‘Galaxy’ Brooks as Darnell ‘Dolo’ Ferguson in ‘Splash City.’\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01166R.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991926\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Reed Shannon as Julian ‘Juju’ Johnson and Quincy ‘Galaxy’ Brooks as Darnell ‘Dolo’ Ferguson in ‘Splash City.’\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It was a time in my life where I was waking up and bippin’ all day,” says \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DbBmf7ovBO6/\">Quincy “Galaxy” Brooks\u003c/a> today. “That’s how I was getting my money to eat.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It was a time in my life where I was waking up and bippin’ all day,” says \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DbBmf7ovBO6/\">Quincy “Galaxy” Brooks\u003c/a> today. “That’s how I was getting my money to eat.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Brooks, a 27 year-old rapper and son of San Francisco hip-hop legend \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-quinn\">San Quinn\u003c/a>, plays the menacing role of Darnell “Dolo” Ferguson in the film. As the ultimate bad guy, his character is a wolf in high-end clothing, tattoos and shiny jewels.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Brooks, a 27 year-old rapper and son of San Francisco hip-hop legend \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-quinn\">San Quinn\u003c/a>, plays the menacing role of Darnell “Dolo” Ferguson in the film. As the ultimate bad guy, his character is a wolf in high-end clothing, tattoos and shiny jewels.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>To prepare for the role, Brooks relied on his own lived experiences, and his mother’s mentality from a time when she, too, was forced to navigate all the streets entail. Lastly, Brooks says, he was heavily influenced by the iconic role Tupac played in 1992 film \u003cem>Juice\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>To prepare for the role, Brooks relied on his own lived experiences, and his mother’s mentality from a time when she, too, was forced to navigate all the streets entail. Lastly, Brooks says, he was heavily influenced by the iconic role Tupac played in 1992 film \u003cem>Juice\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I was like ‘I want make that new millennium 2026 Bishop,’” says Brooks, adding that he watched \u003cem>Juice\u003c/em> over a dozen times before taking the role of Dolo. In doing so, he saw beyond the ruthless character on the screen and identified with Tupac the person, a young rapper and actor influenced by the Bay’s culture. Tupac brought a certain “ummph” with him to the set of the film, says Brooks, and “that’s the same thing I wanted to do for Dolo.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I was like ‘I want make that new millennium 2026 Bishop,’” says Brooks, adding that he watched \u003cem>Juice\u003c/em> over a dozen times before taking the role of Dolo. In doing so, he saw beyond the ruthless character on the screen and identified with Tupac the person, a young rapper and actor influenced by the Bay’s culture. Tupac brought a certain “ummph” with him to the set of the film, says Brooks, and “that’s the same thing I wanted to do for Dolo.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00886R.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991933\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00886R.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00886R-160x67.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00886R-768x320.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00886R-1536x641.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Reed Shannon as Julian ‘Juju’ Johnson in ‘Splash City. ’\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00886R.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991933\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Reed Shannon as Julian ‘Juju’ Johnson in ‘Splash City. ’\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em>, Dolo is a headstrong character who holds a boss-like influence in the community. He pays for a couple younger homies’ jewelry when their stolen credit card is declined. He also does scandalous stuff to the younger ring of thieves, cutting them short on loads of cash because he runs the operation.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em>, Dolo is a headstrong character who holds a boss-like influence in the community. He pays for a couple younger homies’ jewelry when their stolen credit card is declined. He also does scandalous stuff to the younger ring of thieves, cutting them short on loads of cash because he runs the operation.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As the film’s story unfolds, a chain of events pits Dolo against a childhood friend and rising hoop star, Elijah “Slim” Johnson (\u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7094722/?ref_=tt_cst_t_8\">Zach Sowers\u003c/a>). Eventually, Slim’s brother and the main protagonist of the film, Julian “Juju” Johnson (\u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5476739/?ref_=tt_cst_t_2\">Reed Shannon\u003c/a>), steps up to bring Dolo to justice — but not before Dolo and his hot temper wreak havoc on the community.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As the film’s story unfolds, a chain of events pits Dolo against a childhood friend and rising hoop star, Elijah “Slim” Johnson (\u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7094722/?ref_=tt_cst_t_8\">Zach Sowers\u003c/a>). Eventually, Slim’s brother and the main protagonist of the film, Julian “Juju” Johnson (\u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5476739/?ref_=tt_cst_t_2\">Reed Shannon\u003c/a>), steps up to bring Dolo to justice — but not before Dolo and his hot temper wreak havoc on the community.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As the outspoken live wire of the crew, Dolo is an archetype that we’ve seen before. Similar to Bishop in \u003cem>Juice\u003c/em>, O-Dog in \u003cem>Menace II Society\u003c/em> or Bundy in \u003cem>Belly\u003c/em>, he’s a Black man who’s both charismatic and a crashout. Full of ego and rage, he overly flexes his power to get revenge on those who once made him feel powerless.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As the outspoken live wire of the crew, Dolo is an archetype that we’ve seen before. Similar to Bishop in \u003cem>Juice\u003c/em>, O-Dog in \u003cem>Menace II Society\u003c/em> or Bundy in \u003cem>Belly\u003c/em>, he’s a Black man who’s both charismatic and a crashout. Full of ego and rage, he overly flexes his power to get revenge on those who once made him feel powerless.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01655R.jpg\" alt=\"A young Black man in a beanie has a terrified look as a pistol is aimed at his face in a darkly-lit room\" class=\"wp-image-13991927\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01655R.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01655R-160x67.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01655R-768x320.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01655R-1536x641.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Quincy ‘Galaxy’ Brooks as Darnell ‘Dolo’ Ferguson in ‘Splash City.’ Brooks, the son of San Francisco rapper San Quinn, drew on real-life experiences for the role.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01655R.jpg\" alt=\"A young Black man in a beanie has a terrified look as a pistol is aimed at his face in a darkly-lit room\" class=\"wp-image-13991927\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Quincy ‘Galaxy’ Brooks as Darnell ‘Dolo’ Ferguson in ‘Splash City.’ Brooks, the son of San Francisco rapper San Quinn, drew on real-life experiences for the role.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Thanks to Brooks’ performance, even as Dolo goes off the deep end, his character retains a relatable humanity.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“\u003cem>I know that dude\u003c/em>,” Brooks says, explaining his familiarity with the role, which he landed in a circuitous way. Initially in contact with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/berner415/?hl=en\">Berner\u003c/a> (founder of the Cookies cannabis brand and San Francisco hip-hop artist) to play the role of Preach in the film, he heard Dolo described as “a young street dude from the city — the wild one.” Brooks said to himself: “I feel like I do that real good.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“\u003cem>I know that dude\u003c/em>,” Brooks says, explaining his familiarity with the role, which he landed in a circuitous way. Initially in contact with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/berner415/?hl=en\">Berner\u003c/a> (founder of the Cookies cannabis brand and San Francisco hip-hop artist) to play the role of Preach in the film, he heard Dolo described as “a young street dude from the city — the wild one.” Brooks said to himself: “I feel like I do that real good.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He and his younger brother Zakee “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/h2othawave/\">H20\u003c/a>” Brooks, who raps with Brooks in a group called \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JnWE3QX96U\">THA SOULJAS\u003c/a>, each auditioned multiple times before being awarded roles in the film. “I wasn’t \u003cem>that\u003c/em> deeply involved in the streets,” the older Brooks says, contrasting his life with Dolo’s.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>He and his younger brother Zakee “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/h2othawave/\">H20\u003c/a>” Brooks, who raps with Brooks in a group called \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JnWE3QX96U\">THA SOULJAS\u003c/a>, each auditioned multiple times before being awarded roles in the film. “I wasn’t \u003cem>that\u003c/em> deeply involved in the streets,” the older Brooks says, contrasting his life with Dolo’s.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In order to really tap into that cutthroat mentality, he looked to his mother, Cheryl-T.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“My mom was ruthless out here on the streets,” says Brooks, adding that she’s done it all, from robberies to theft, all as a means of survival.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As a child, Brooks’ mom moved from New Orleans to the West Point housing projects in Bayview-Hunters Point. She later lived in the notorious Harbor Road projects before being kicked out of the house at age 13. She became a parent while still young, mothering two children before Brooks, plus his younger brother soon after.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As a mom, Brooks says, Cheryl-T stole school clothes to ensure the kids had fresh fits in the classroom. She took football pads from the store to make sure Brooks had the gear he needed when he stepped on the gridiron.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“My mom made everything happen, by any means necessary,” says Brooks. Even as she settled down and found legal employment, Brooks saw her adapt that same hard-won “I’m gonna do what I have to do to make sure my kids get by” mentality in the corporate world.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“And Dolo was that same type of dude,” Brooks says.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“He’s a dude of logic,” explains Brooks, adding that he’s also “a little bit of a dictator.” Despite Dolo’s immoral actions throughout the film, Brooks says, there’s a certain rationale to his logic, based upon the circumstances from which he comes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Ultimately, Brooks says, Dolo’s downfall is that he wants it all. “He didn’t know how to be a team player,” Brooks tells me. “There \u003cem>was\u003c/em> an ‘I’ in ‘team’ for Dolo.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Even with Dolo’s snake-like mentality, many viewers may find themselves siding with him at times, much like Bundy in \u003cem>Belly\u003c/em> or Bishop in \u003cem>Juice\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I think we all have a little Bishop or O-Dog or Dolo in us,” says Brooks. A lot of folks have experienced the feeling of being pushed to the limit. “Especially as Black people, just because all the scrutiny and hardships. Dolo is just a young dude who’s been through hardships and isn’t turning down no more.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>What’s more human than navigating an oppressive system by taking vengeance out on those in close proximity? In the Bay Area, where the chasm between the haves and have nots is wider than the Salesforce Tower laying on its side, it’s no wonder that people wielding a spark plug are preying on the parked vehicles of others.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bippin’ has been around for years. At this point, if you haven’t had your car window busted, it means you ride a bike to get around. People readily live in worry that they might be the next victim. It’s nearly impossible to get audiences to feel empathy for the head of a crime syndicate focused on burglarizing vehicles.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Bippin’ has been around for years. At this point, if you haven’t had your car window busted, it means you ride a bike to get around. People readily live in worry that they might be the next victim. It’s nearly impossible to get audiences to feel empathy for the head of a crime syndicate focused on burglarizing vehicles.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Dolo is a foul snake. But somehow, in \u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em>, you can \u003cem>lightweight\u003c/em> understand where he’s coming from.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I think the reason he’s got that likability,” Brooks says, reflecting on his role, “is because I was able to add a little bit of myself in there.” Brooks credits the directors for allowing him to bring his full self to his first acting role, and for pushing him to “humanize” Dolo.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I didn’t want him to be a ruthless murderer,” says Brooks. “He has a conscience too.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>‘\u003cem>Splash City’ is currently showing at select theaters nationwide, with upcoming screenings on \u003ca href=\"https://www.amctheatres.com/showtimes/145059063/seats\">Friday, July 31\u003c/a> in San José and \u003ca href=\"https://www.amctheatres.com/showtimes/145059056/seats\">Saturday, Aug. 1\u003c/a> in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/splashcitythemovie/\">Screening times and more information here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>‘\u003cem>Splash City’ is currently showing at select theaters nationwide, with upcoming screenings on \u003ca href=\"https://www.amctheatres.com/showtimes/145059063/seats\">Friday, July 31\u003c/a> in San José and \u003ca href=\"https://www.amctheatres.com/showtimes/145059056/seats\">Saturday, Aug. 1\u003c/a> in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/splashcitythemovie/\">Screening times and more information here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "The rapper’s empathetic performance helps drive a new crime drama about the life of bippers in SF.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The crime drama \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27666105/\">\u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em>\u003c/a> is a feature film with local star power, glossy cinematography and a dark storyline about an issue that has long plagued the Bay Area: \u003ca href=\"https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/let-me-show-you-how-to-bip-tracing-the-origins-of-hip-hop-favorite-new-word/\">bippin\u003c/a>‘.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Car windows are shattered. Backpacks are snatched. Underbuckets bend corners through busy San Francisco streets. There’s guns, sex, big money and high stakes. \u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em>, written and directed by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/berner415/?hl=en\">Berner\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6484571/?ref_=tt_ov_1_2\">Alex Ferrufino\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7229790/?ref_=tt_ov_2_2\">David Mansanalez\u003c/a> (and distributed by Lionsgate), also features an affecting performance by Oakland lyricist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/babygas/\">Baby Gas\u003c/a>, a cameo from Pinole-raised producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13971354/p-lo-for-the-soil-warriors-golden-state-entertainment-nba-all-star-weekend\">P-Lo\u003c/a> and a brief appearance by Fillmore rapper \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mobetta__mochedda/?hl=en\">Ronski Mayfield\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But it’s the film’s antagonist who embodies an archetype often seen in hood films. Through him, \u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em> brings into focus real-life issues caused by wealth inequality in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"834\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01166R.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991926\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01166R.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01166R-160x67.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01166R-768x320.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01166R-1536x641.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Reed Shannon as Julian ‘Juju’ Johnson and Quincy ‘Galaxy’ Brooks as Darnell ‘Dolo’ Ferguson in ‘Splash City.’ (Courtesy of Lionsgate)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It was a time in my life where I was waking up and bippin’ all day,” says \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DbBmf7ovBO6/\">Quincy “Galaxy” Brooks\u003c/a> today. “That’s how I was getting my money to eat.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Brooks, a 27 year-old rapper and son of San Francisco hip-hop legend \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-quinn\">San Quinn\u003c/a>, plays the menacing role of Darnell “Dolo” Ferguson in the film. As the ultimate bad guy, his character is a wolf in high-end clothing, tattoos and shiny jewels.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To prepare for the role, Brooks relied on his own lived experiences, and his mother’s mentality from a time when she, too, was forced to navigate all the streets entail. Lastly, Brooks says, he was heavily influenced by the iconic role Tupac played in 1992 film \u003cem>Juice\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I was like ‘I want make that new millennium 2026 Bishop,’” says Brooks, adding that he watched \u003cem>Juice\u003c/em> over a dozen times before taking the role of Dolo. In doing so, he saw beyond the ruthless character on the screen and identified with Tupac the person, a young rapper and actor influenced by the Bay’s culture. Tupac brought a certain “ummph” with him to the set of the film, says Brooks, and “that’s the same thing I wanted to do for Dolo.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"834\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00886R.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991933\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00886R.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00886R-160x67.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00886R-768x320.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00886R-1536x641.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Reed Shannon as Julian ‘Juju’ Johnson in ‘Splash City. ’ (Lionsgate)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em>, Dolo is a headstrong character who holds a boss-like influence in the community. He pays for a couple younger homies’ jewelry when their stolen credit card is declined. He also does scandalous stuff to the younger ring of thieves, cutting them short on loads of cash because he runs the operation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As the film’s story unfolds, a chain of events pits Dolo against a childhood friend and rising hoop star, Elijah “Slim” Johnson (\u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7094722/?ref_=tt_cst_t_8\">Zach Sowers\u003c/a>). Eventually, Slim’s brother and the main protagonist of the film, Julian “Juju” Johnson (\u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5476739/?ref_=tt_cst_t_2\">Reed Shannon\u003c/a>), steps up to bring Dolo to justice — but not before Dolo and his hot temper wreak havoc on the community.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As the outspoken live wire of the crew, Dolo is an archetype that we’ve seen before. Similar to Bishop in \u003cem>Juice\u003c/em>, O-Dog in \u003cem>Menace II Society\u003c/em> or Bundy in \u003cem>Belly\u003c/em>, he’s a Black man who’s both charismatic and a crashout. Full of ego and rage, he overly flexes his power to get revenge on those who once made him feel powerless.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"834\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01655R.jpg\" alt=\"A young Black man in a beanie has a terrified look as a pistol is aimed at his face in a darkly-lit room\" class=\"wp-image-13991927\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01655R.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01655R-160x67.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01655R-768x320.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_01655R-1536x641.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Quincy ‘Galaxy’ Brooks as Darnell ‘Dolo’ Ferguson in ‘Splash City.’ Brooks, the son of San Francisco rapper San Quinn, drew on real-life experiences for the role. (Lionsgate)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Thanks to Brooks’ performance, even as Dolo goes off the deep end, his character retains a relatable humanity.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“\u003cem>I know that dude\u003c/em>,” Brooks says, explaining his familiarity with the role, which he landed in a circuitous way. Initially in contact with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/berner415/?hl=en\">Berner\u003c/a> (founder of the Cookies cannabis brand and San Francisco hip-hop artist) to play the role of Preach in the film, he heard Dolo described as “a young street dude from the city — the wild one.” Brooks said to himself: “I feel like I do that real good.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He and his younger brother Zakee “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/h2othawave/\">H20\u003c/a>” Brooks, who raps with Brooks in a group called \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JnWE3QX96U\">THA SOULJAS\u003c/a>, each auditioned multiple times before being awarded roles in the film. “I wasn’t \u003cem>that\u003c/em> deeply involved in the streets,” the older Brooks says, contrasting his life with Dolo’s.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In order to really tap into that cutthroat mentality, he looked to his mother, Cheryl-T.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“My mom was ruthless out here on the streets,” says Brooks, adding that she’s done it all, from robberies to theft, all as a means of survival.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/Vrze2vx3avI'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/Vrze2vx3avI'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As a child, Brooks’ mom moved from New Orleans to the West Point housing projects in Bayview-Hunters Point. She later lived in the notorious Harbor Road projects before being kicked out of the house at age 13. She became a parent while still young, mothering two children before Brooks, plus his younger brother soon after.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As a mom, Brooks says, Cheryl-T stole school clothes to ensure the kids had fresh fits in the classroom. She took football pads from the store to make sure Brooks had the gear he needed when he stepped on the gridiron.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“My mom made everything happen, by any means necessary,” says Brooks. Even as she settled down and found legal employment, Brooks saw her adapt that same hard-won “I’m gonna do what I have to do to make sure my kids get by” mentality in the corporate world.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“And Dolo was that same type of dude,” Brooks says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“He’s a dude of logic,” explains Brooks, adding that he’s also “a little bit of a dictator.” Despite Dolo’s immoral actions throughout the film, Brooks says, there’s a certain rationale to his logic, based upon the circumstances from which he comes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Ultimately, Brooks says, Dolo’s downfall is that he wants it all. “He didn’t know how to be a team player,” Brooks tells me. “There \u003cem>was\u003c/em> an ‘I’ in ‘team’ for Dolo.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"834\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00165R.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991932\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00165R.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00165R-160x67.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00165R-768x320.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/SPLASHCITY_SG_00165R-1536x641.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Reed Shannon as Julian ‘Juju’ Johnson and Zach Sowers as Elijah ‘Slim’ Johnson in ‘Splash City.’ (Lionsgate)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Even with Dolo’s snake-like mentality, many viewers may find themselves siding with him at times, much like Bundy in \u003cem>Belly\u003c/em> or Bishop in \u003cem>Juice\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I think we all have a little Bishop or O-Dog or Dolo in us,” says Brooks. A lot of folks have experienced the feeling of being pushed to the limit. “Especially as Black people, just because all the scrutiny and hardships. Dolo is just a young dude who’s been through hardships and isn’t turning down no more.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What’s more human than navigating an oppressive system by taking vengeance out on those in close proximity? In the Bay Area, where the chasm between the haves and have nots is wider than the Salesforce Tower laying on its side, it’s no wonder that people wielding a spark plug are preying on the parked vehicles of others.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bippin’ has been around for years. At this point, if you haven’t had your car window busted, it means you ride a bike to get around. People readily live in worry that they might be the next victim. It’s nearly impossible to get audiences to feel empathy for the head of a crime syndicate focused on burglarizing vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Dolo is a foul snake. But somehow, in \u003cem>Splash City\u003c/em>, you can \u003cem>lightweight\u003c/em> understand where he’s coming from.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I think the reason he’s got that likability,” Brooks says, reflecting on his role, “is because I was able to add a little bit of myself in there.” Brooks credits the directors for allowing him to bring his full self to his first acting role, and for pushing him to “humanize” Dolo.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I didn’t want him to be a ruthless murderer,” says Brooks. “He has a conscience too.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>‘\u003cem>Splash City’ is currently showing at select theaters nationwide, with upcoming screenings on \u003ca href=\"https://www.amctheatres.com/showtimes/145059063/seats\">Friday, July 31\u003c/a> in San José and \u003ca href=\"https://www.amctheatres.com/showtimes/145059056/seats\">Saturday, Aug. 1\u003c/a> in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/splashcitythemovie/\">Screening times and more information here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "dink-pickleball-comedy-film-review-ben-stiller-jake-johnson-ed-harris-mary-steenburgen",
"title": "‘The Dink’ Is the Pickleball Comedy You Didn’t Know You Needed",
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"headTitle": "‘The Dink’ Is the Pickleball Comedy You Didn’t Know You Needed | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>It’s the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101889868/pickleball-gaining-popularity-one-dink-at-a-time\">tennis\u003c/a> establishment versus \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/perspectives/201601147600/oi-yan-chung-finding-community-at-the-courts\">pickleball\u003c/a> enthusiasts at an uptight club in \u003cem>The Dink\u003c/em>, a kind of spiritual descendant of \u003cem>Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story\u003c/em>. The story itself is very by the books: A once promising tennis prodigy learns to get over himself and his disdain for the “lesser sport.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In one version of the world it could have been \u003cem>The Cutting Edge\u003c/em>. But \u003cem>The Dink\u003c/em> chose the grounded, goofy route, with memorably eccentric characters and a few high profile cameos that add up to an enjoyable watch.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jake Johnson plays the has been, Dusty, whose domineering father, Chuck (\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/201004291000/ed-harris\">Ed Harris\u003c/a>) had groomed him for tennis stardom since he was born. He called his son “The Hammer” long before he’d even told him his real name, we’re told in an amusing introduction. But as with so many sports prodigies, Dusty flamed out early (in a match against a young Andy Roddick, no less). Now he teaches tennis lessons to kids at his dad’s club and bores them with stories of his glory days. He has but one remaining friend: PJ, an earnest sycophant and kindhearted weirdo played by Australian comedian Aaron Chen.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Dusty and his father hate pickleball with a passion, so when Dusty’s doctor (a brief, funny appearance by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/tag/ben-stiller\">Ben Stiller\u003c/a>, who also produced) recommends it as rehab for a wrist injury, it’s a sentence worse than death. Naturally, he’ll eventually change his tune when he starts playing with a group of older women, including Candace (Mary Steenburgen), Gail (Cleo King) and Judy (the late Lynne Marie Stewart).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Johnson is excellent at playing the not-always-lovable loser. One of his new friends says she thinks he looks like Timothée Chalamet; He laughs that no one has ever said, or thought, that before. But she could be on to something: Dusty is kind of on the Marty Supreme spectrum.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steenburgen is also lovely and funny, while Harris is the perfect alpha dad; Can’t more filmmakers and screenwriters figure out how to use our septuagenarians well?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyVNFzx5Pl8\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The film is packed with comic actors in smaller roles too: Patton Oswalt is the club’s resident pickleball enthusiast, Chloe Fineman is a crazy ex-girlfriend and Chris Parnell is a tennis pro. Directed by Josh Greenbaum and written by Sean Clements, it is moderately successful in toeing the line between silly and heartfelt. And, to its credit, it doesn’t go so low as to make pickleball and its players the butt of every joke. There are some, to be sure; But it’s mostly done so lovingly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And within all this there is one sequence that might just be the funniest bit of the year. I won’t be so cruel as to spoil what I’m talking about (or so bold to think that words might do it justice) but I will say that it involves none of the main characters and has very little to do with the story. It is just ridiculous and perfect.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Greenbaum, who was also behind \u003cem>Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar\u003c/em> and the upcoming \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://video.kqed.org/video/spaceballs-rl1j85/\">Spaceballs\u003c/a>\u003c/em> sequel, is carving out a nice space for himself as a reliable director of comedies, a genre that seems almost endangered on the big screen.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This is a curious time for the movies: The appetite for theatrical moviegoing is clearly there, and not just for \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13991674/the-odyssey-review-christopher-nolan-matt-damon\">The Odyssey\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. And yet this week has two mainstream comedies, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/tag/kevin-hart\">Kevin Hart\u003c/a> bachelor party movie \u003cem>72 Hours\u003c/em>, with starry casts that are going straight to streaming. The silver lining is that people are still making straight comedies, but there’s something that’s lost when they skip the movie theater entirely. Sure, you can gather the family in the living room, but not all families have the same type of humor. It’s hard to submit to something if the people around you aren’t having a good time. In a theater, there’s at least a chance that there are some other kindred spirits around to laugh, or even groan, with. (I cannot speak to the quality of \u003cem>72 Hours\u003c/em>.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Some are still getting the chance, like \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13991479/gail-daughtry-and-the-celebrity-sex-pass-review-jon-hamm-comedy\">Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, but it’s hard to believe that moviegoing will ever really be “back” when big, dumb comedies aren’t part of the regular mix.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Dink’ begins streaming on Apple TV, on July 24, 2026.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Dusty and his father hate pickleball with a passion, so when Dusty’s doctor (a brief, funny appearance by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/tag/ben-stiller\">Ben Stiller\u003c/a>, who also produced) recommends it as rehab for a wrist injury, it’s a sentence worse than death. Naturally, he’ll eventually change his tune when he starts playing with a group of older women, including Candace (Mary Steenburgen), Gail (Cleo King) and Judy (the late Lynne Marie Stewart).\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Johnson is excellent at playing the not-always-lovable loser. One of his new friends says she thinks he looks like Timothée Chalamet; He laughs that no one has ever said, or thought, that before. But she could be on to something: Dusty is kind of on the Marty Supreme spectrum.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Steenburgen is also lovely and funny, while Harris is the perfect alpha dad; Can’t more filmmakers and screenwriters figure out how to use our septuagenarians well?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The film is packed with comic actors in smaller roles too: Patton Oswalt is the club’s resident pickleball enthusiast, Chloe Fineman is a crazy ex-girlfriend and Chris Parnell is a tennis pro. Directed by Josh Greenbaum and written by Sean Clements, it is moderately successful in toeing the line between silly and heartfelt. And, to its credit, it doesn’t go so low as to make pickleball and its players the butt of every joke. There are some, to be sure; But it’s mostly done so lovingly.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And within all this there is one sequence that might just be the funniest bit of the year. I won’t be so cruel as to spoil what I’m talking about (or so bold to think that words might do it justice) but I will say that it involves none of the main characters and has very little to do with the story. It is just ridiculous and perfect.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Greenbaum, who was also behind \u003cem>Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar\u003c/em> and the upcoming \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://video.kqed.org/video/spaceballs-rl1j85/\">Spaceballs\u003c/a>\u003c/em> sequel, is carving out a nice space for himself as a reliable director of comedies, a genre that seems almost endangered on the big screen.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This is a curious time for the movies: The appetite for theatrical moviegoing is clearly there, and not just for \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13991674/the-odyssey-review-christopher-nolan-matt-damon\">The Odyssey\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. And yet this week has two mainstream comedies, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/tag/kevin-hart\">Kevin Hart\u003c/a> bachelor party movie \u003cem>72 Hours\u003c/em>, with starry casts that are going straight to streaming. The silver lining is that people are still making straight comedies, but there’s something that’s lost when they skip the movie theater entirely. Sure, you can gather the family in the living room, but not all families have the same type of humor. It’s hard to submit to something if the people around you aren’t having a good time. In a theater, there’s at least a chance that there are some other kindred spirits around to laugh, or even groan, with. (I cannot speak to the quality of \u003cem>72 Hours\u003c/em>.)\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101889868/pickleball-gaining-popularity-one-dink-at-a-time\">tennis\u003c/a> establishment versus \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/perspectives/201601147600/oi-yan-chung-finding-community-at-the-courts\">pickleball\u003c/a> enthusiasts at an uptight club in \u003cem>The Dink\u003c/em>, a kind of spiritual descendant of \u003cem>Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story\u003c/em>. The story itself is very by the books: A once promising tennis prodigy learns to get over himself and his disdain for the “lesser sport.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In one version of the world it could have been \u003cem>The Cutting Edge\u003c/em>. But \u003cem>The Dink\u003c/em> chose the grounded, goofy route, with memorably eccentric characters and a few high profile cameos that add up to an enjoyable watch.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jake Johnson plays the has been, Dusty, whose domineering father, Chuck (\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/201004291000/ed-harris\">Ed Harris\u003c/a>) had groomed him for tennis stardom since he was born. He called his son “The Hammer” long before he’d even told him his real name, we’re told in an amusing introduction. But as with so many sports prodigies, Dusty flamed out early (in a match against a young Andy Roddick, no less). Now he teaches tennis lessons to kids at his dad’s club and bores them with stories of his glory days. He has but one remaining friend: PJ, an earnest sycophant and kindhearted weirdo played by Australian comedian Aaron Chen.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Dusty and his father hate pickleball with a passion, so when Dusty’s doctor (a brief, funny appearance by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/tag/ben-stiller\">Ben Stiller\u003c/a>, who also produced) recommends it as rehab for a wrist injury, it’s a sentence worse than death. Naturally, he’ll eventually change his tune when he starts playing with a group of older women, including Candace (Mary Steenburgen), Gail (Cleo King) and Judy (the late Lynne Marie Stewart).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Johnson is excellent at playing the not-always-lovable loser. One of his new friends says she thinks he looks like Timothée Chalamet; He laughs that no one has ever said, or thought, that before. But she could be on to something: Dusty is kind of on the Marty Supreme spectrum.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steenburgen is also lovely and funny, while Harris is the perfect alpha dad; Can’t more filmmakers and screenwriters figure out how to use our septuagenarians well?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/YyVNFzx5Pl8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/YyVNFzx5Pl8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The film is packed with comic actors in smaller roles too: Patton Oswalt is the club’s resident pickleball enthusiast, Chloe Fineman is a crazy ex-girlfriend and Chris Parnell is a tennis pro. Directed by Josh Greenbaum and written by Sean Clements, it is moderately successful in toeing the line between silly and heartfelt. And, to its credit, it doesn’t go so low as to make pickleball and its players the butt of every joke. There are some, to be sure; But it’s mostly done so lovingly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And within all this there is one sequence that might just be the funniest bit of the year. I won’t be so cruel as to spoil what I’m talking about (or so bold to think that words might do it justice) but I will say that it involves none of the main characters and has very little to do with the story. It is just ridiculous and perfect.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Greenbaum, who was also behind \u003cem>Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar\u003c/em> and the upcoming \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://video.kqed.org/video/spaceballs-rl1j85/\">Spaceballs\u003c/a>\u003c/em> sequel, is carving out a nice space for himself as a reliable director of comedies, a genre that seems almost endangered on the big screen.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This is a curious time for the movies: The appetite for theatrical moviegoing is clearly there, and not just for \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13991674/the-odyssey-review-christopher-nolan-matt-damon\">The Odyssey\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. And yet this week has two mainstream comedies, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/tag/kevin-hart\">Kevin Hart\u003c/a> bachelor party movie \u003cem>72 Hours\u003c/em>, with starry casts that are going straight to streaming. The silver lining is that people are still making straight comedies, but there’s something that’s lost when they skip the movie theater entirely. Sure, you can gather the family in the living room, but not all families have the same type of humor. It’s hard to submit to something if the people around you aren’t having a good time. In a theater, there’s at least a chance that there are some other kindred spirits around to laugh, or even groan, with. (I cannot speak to the quality of \u003cem>72 Hours\u003c/em>.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Some are still getting the chance, like \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13991479/gail-daughtry-and-the-celebrity-sex-pass-review-jon-hamm-comedy\">Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, but it’s hard to believe that moviegoing will ever really be “back” when big, dumb comedies aren’t part of the regular mix.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Dink’ begins streaming on Apple TV, on July 24, 2026.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/americans-with-disabilities-act\">Americans With Disabilities Act\u003c/a> into law, declaring: “Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The law had been hard-fought, with disability rights activists working for more than a decade to get it passed. An important core group of those activists, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13966861/judith-heumann-disability-rights-uc-berkeley-center-independent-living\">Judy Heumann\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101863500/disability-rights-advocates-recognized-on-ed-roberts-day\">Ed Roberts\u003c/a>, were based in the Bay Area, and had proved to be an unstoppable force.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Thirteen years earlier, they led more than 100 disability rights protesters in a 26-day occupation of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare inside San Francisco’s Federal Building. They demanded that Section 504 of 1973’s Rehabilitation Act finally be signed, so that any organization receiving federal funds would be compeled to make buildings accessible for the disabled.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The sit-in was brought to wider attention in 2020, thanks to the acclaimed Netflix documentary \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13877373/now-playing-crip-camp-recalls-coming-of-age-through-activism\">Crip Camp\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. This weekend, meanwhile, offers an opportunity to see the federal building occupation from a whole new angle.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>To mark the 36th anniversary of the ADA’s passage, the GLBT Historical Society will screen its own short film about the protest at San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/roxie-theater\">Roxie Theater\u003c/a>. \u003cem>Sign 504 Now!\u003c/em> lasts a swift 30 minutes, comprised of on-the-ground insider footage. The short, sometimes grainy black-and-white film offers an immersive view into what really went on behind the scenes during the grueling sit-in.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside the federal building, we see the squatters navigating overcrowded and inaccessible conditions using only a collective sense of righteousness, a tenacious dedication to organizing and — grabbing joy where they can — a surprising amount of singing and bubble-blowing. Holed up in the offices, the protesters pass the time engaged in philosophical debates, or discussing the erasure of disabled folks from pop culture. They also express gratitude for the support the protest receives from Black Panthers, union organizers and LGBTQ advocates, among many others.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Near the federal building’s front doors, we see supporters gathering, passionate speeches being made, and protest musicians demanding in song (accompanied by an ASL translator, of course) that 504 be signed. After almost a month of the federal building occupation, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joseph Califano finally caved and 504 was enacted.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It marked a triumphant win for the protesters. Once their work was done, however, they soon regrouped and began campaigning for what would later become the ADA.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sign 504 Now!\u003c/em> captures both the hardship and hardiness of the protesters during what was, at the time, the longest nonviolent occupation of a federal building in U.S. history. In 2026, their story serves as an inspiring reminder of what can happen when ordinary people fight back against oppression in large enough numbers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the Roxie Theater, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13899598/bay-area-historic-movie-theaters-move-towards-greater-accessibility\">made its own ADA upgrades\u003c/a> during the pandemic’s downtime, the \u003cem>Sign 504 Now!\u003c/em> screening will be followed by a panel discussion, moderated by \u003cem>Crip Camp\u003c/em> director Jim LeBrecht. Disability rights experts \u003ca href=\"https://www.pinedafoundation.org/\">Dr. Victor Santiago Pineda\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/kevin-mintz\">Dr. Kevin Mintz\u003c/a> join as guests, along with renowned Bay Area film editor Vivien Hillgrove.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Following the conversation is a screening of Hillgrove’s own documentary, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13974577/viviens-wild-ride-documentary-review\">Vivien’s Wild Ride\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. Self-directed, the film charts her struggles with macular degeneration and sight loss. As her disability progresses, Hillgrove mentally retreats into her past to examine the strengths she formed and lessons she learned in the 1960s as a single teen mom forced to give her child up for adoption. Like \u003cem>Sign 504 Now!\u003c/em>, Hillgrove’s story is one of resilience and disability, and also features fantastic footage of a bygone San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VstYZ5DVLWY\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Roxie and GLBT Historical Society joined forces with the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities, and the Center for Independent Living for the double-feature event. It is a fitting way to celebrate the existence of the ADA, to remember what life might be like without it, and remember the tenacious activists who made the law a reality.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://roxie.com/film/ada-celebration-viviens-wild-ride-sign-504-now/\">The Roxie’s ADA Celebration\u003c/a>, featuring ‘Sign 504 Now!’\u003c/em> and \u003cem>‘Vivien’s Wild Ride,’ takes place at the Roxie (3117 16th St., San Francisco) on July 26, 2026, at 1 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Near the federal building’s front doors, we see supporters gathering, passionate speeches being made, and protest musicians demanding in song (accompanied by an ASL translator, of course) that 504 be signed. After almost a month of the federal building occupation, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joseph Califano finally caved and 504 was enacted.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Roxie and GLBT Historical Society joined forces with the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities, and the Center for Independent Living for the double-feature event. It is a fitting way to celebrate the existence of the ADA, to remember what life might be like without it, and remember the tenacious activists who made the law a reality.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://roxie.com/film/ada-celebration-viviens-wild-ride-sign-504-now/\">The Roxie’s ADA Celebration\u003c/a>, featuring ‘Sign 504 Now!’\u003c/em> and \u003cem>‘Vivien’s Wild Ride,’ takes place at the Roxie (3117 16th St., San Francisco) on July 26, 2026, at 1 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "The Roxie Celebrates the 36th Anniversary of the ADA | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/americans-with-disabilities-act\">Americans With Disabilities Act\u003c/a> into law, declaring: “Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The law had been hard-fought, with disability rights activists working for more than a decade to get it passed. An important core group of those activists, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13966861/judith-heumann-disability-rights-uc-berkeley-center-independent-living\">Judy Heumann\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101863500/disability-rights-advocates-recognized-on-ed-roberts-day\">Ed Roberts\u003c/a>, were based in the Bay Area, and had proved to be an unstoppable force.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Thirteen years earlier, they led more than 100 disability rights protesters in a 26-day occupation of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare inside San Francisco’s Federal Building. They demanded that Section 504 of 1973’s Rehabilitation Act finally be signed, so that any organization receiving federal funds would be compeled to make buildings accessible for the disabled.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The sit-in was brought to wider attention in 2020, thanks to the acclaimed Netflix documentary \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13877373/now-playing-crip-camp-recalls-coming-of-age-through-activism\">Crip Camp\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. This weekend, meanwhile, offers an opportunity to see the federal building occupation from a whole new angle.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>To mark the 36th anniversary of the ADA’s passage, the GLBT Historical Society will screen its own short film about the protest at San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/roxie-theater\">Roxie Theater\u003c/a>. \u003cem>Sign 504 Now!\u003c/em> lasts a swift 30 minutes, comprised of on-the-ground insider footage. The short, sometimes grainy black-and-white film offers an immersive view into what really went on behind the scenes during the grueling sit-in.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside the federal building, we see the squatters navigating overcrowded and inaccessible conditions using only a collective sense of righteousness, a tenacious dedication to organizing and — grabbing joy where they can — a surprising amount of singing and bubble-blowing. Holed up in the offices, the protesters pass the time engaged in philosophical debates, or discussing the erasure of disabled folks from pop culture. They also express gratitude for the support the protest receives from Black Panthers, union organizers and LGBTQ advocates, among many others.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Near the federal building’s front doors, we see supporters gathering, passionate speeches being made, and protest musicians demanding in song (accompanied by an ASL translator, of course) that 504 be signed. After almost a month of the federal building occupation, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joseph Califano finally caved and 504 was enacted.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It marked a triumphant win for the protesters. Once their work was done, however, they soon regrouped and began campaigning for what would later become the ADA.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sign 504 Now!\u003c/em> captures both the hardship and hardiness of the protesters during what was, at the time, the longest nonviolent occupation of a federal building in U.S. history. In 2026, their story serves as an inspiring reminder of what can happen when ordinary people fight back against oppression in large enough numbers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the Roxie Theater, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13899598/bay-area-historic-movie-theaters-move-towards-greater-accessibility\">made its own ADA upgrades\u003c/a> during the pandemic’s downtime, the \u003cem>Sign 504 Now!\u003c/em> screening will be followed by a panel discussion, moderated by \u003cem>Crip Camp\u003c/em> director Jim LeBrecht. Disability rights experts \u003ca href=\"https://www.pinedafoundation.org/\">Dr. Victor Santiago Pineda\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/kevin-mintz\">Dr. Kevin Mintz\u003c/a> join as guests, along with renowned Bay Area film editor Vivien Hillgrove.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Following the conversation is a screening of Hillgrove’s own documentary, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13974577/viviens-wild-ride-documentary-review\">Vivien’s Wild Ride\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. Self-directed, the film charts her struggles with macular degeneration and sight loss. As her disability progresses, Hillgrove mentally retreats into her past to examine the strengths she formed and lessons she learned in the 1960s as a single teen mom forced to give her child up for adoption. Like \u003cem>Sign 504 Now!\u003c/em>, Hillgrove’s story is one of resilience and disability, and also features fantastic footage of a bygone San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/VstYZ5DVLWY'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/VstYZ5DVLWY'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Roxie and GLBT Historical Society joined forces with the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities, and the Center for Independent Living for the double-feature event. It is a fitting way to celebrate the existence of the ADA, to remember what life might be like without it, and remember the tenacious activists who made the law a reality.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://roxie.com/film/ada-celebration-viviens-wild-ride-sign-504-now/\">The Roxie’s ADA Celebration\u003c/a>, featuring ‘Sign 504 Now!’\u003c/em> and \u003cem>‘Vivien’s Wild Ride,’ takes place at the Roxie (3117 16th St., San Francisco) on July 26, 2026, at 1 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "the-odyssey-review-christopher-nolan-matt-damon",
"title": "Thrills and Spills Highlight the Cursed Mediterranean Cruise of ‘The Odyssey’",
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"content": "\u003cp>Classic-rock fans know by heart the ’60s super-group Blind Faith’s \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/gm7JmCSymy4?si=LJ7E6W7MPjeee2eK\">most enduring song\u003c/a>: “Come down off your throne and leave your body alone/Somebody must change/You are the reason I’ve been waiting so long/Somebody holds the key.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I don’t think Steve Winwood had the separated King Odysseus and Queen Penelope of ancient Ithaca in mind when he wrote \u003cem>Can’t Find My Way Home\u003c/em>. Nonetheless, one of writer-director Christopher Nolan’s inescapable and unsolvable challenges in adapting \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.odysseymovie.com/\">The Odyssey\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (opening Friday, July 17) is that Homer’s touchstone myths, foundational themes and indelible set pieces have inspired countless contemporary works of art and are embedded and assimilated into our stories and vocabulary.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nolan (\u003cem>Inception\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Oppenheimer\u003c/em>) is probably the best person this side of Ridley Scott to devise a three-hour, mammoth-budget commercial movie with artistic, literary and intellectual filigrees. He is adept at working on a big canvas, though I’ve never understood how a pop philosopher attained a reputation as a director of profound ideas.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Like so much of Nolan’s oeuvre, \u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em> is a grand-scale, masculine action-adventure bow-tied with frilly robes of Hallmark-card philosophy. The filmmaker’s ability to thrust audiences into the center of chaotic battles and frenetic dangers — abetted, as always, by a crammed (Oscar, can you hear me?) sound design turbocharged at climactic moments by a drums-and-bass assault — carries the day.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG_2000.jpg\" alt=\"soldiers fight in front of burning ancient city\" class=\"wp-image-13991708\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A scene from Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey.’ (Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Perhaps inevitably, the movie’s power is undercut by the many expository dialogue scenes. They aren’t boring, exactly, but matinee stars of limited range (Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya) delivering lines devoid of poetry does not make for emotionally involved audiences.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, if you have any interest at all in \u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em>, see it now on the biggest screen you can. You will be rewarded with immersion in the spectacle and the scenery. However, if you are indifferent, I encourage you to respect Nolan’s formidable undertaking by avoiding the TV-size streaming and DVD formats down the road.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nolan’s \u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em> is largely structured as a series of flashbacks (and flashbacks within flashbacks) recounted by the shipwrecked Odysseus to the ageless Calypso (Charlize Theron) seven years after his army invaded and defeated Troy. The poor guy just wants to get back to his wife and dog, but the gods have arrayed a litany of life-threatening obstacles (Cyclops, Circe, Sirens) for Odysseus and his ever-dwindling battalion of ocean-traveling soldier-sailors.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-19534_2000.jpg\" alt=\"woman in blue robe and younger man stand looking out from parapet to distance\" class=\"wp-image-13991709\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-19534_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-19534_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-19534_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-19534_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Anne Hathaway is Penelope and Tom Holland is Telemachus in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey.’ (Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Odysseus possesses supreme confidence but dubious decision-making ability; alas, Nolan and Damon portray him as a relentlessly heroic figure — tailor-made for audience identification — rather than a man of bottomless hubris who has brought his fate (and his men’s) upon himself, with a little assistance from the gods.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, back at the palace, the queen and her son Telemachus (a doughy Tom Holland) debate the dim possibility that the king still draws breath after so many years without a sighting. The dining room overflows with suitors for the queen’s hand and the king’s crown, with the pack headed by Antinous (Robert Pattinson, resembling a young, lean and hungry Dylan McDermott).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Late in the proceedings, after so much horror and death puts Odysseus in a reflective mood, Nolan finally shows us the horrific impact of war on Troy’s civilians. The suffering of these anonymous people is a catalyst for Odysseus’ awakening to the cost of his ego and ambition. In Happy Ending Hollywood, the director wants us to take strength along with that warning, so he reminds us yet again of the merits of sacrifice, loyalty and perseverance during the final stage of Odysseus’ return.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-44304_MSG_2000.jpg\" alt=\"man in robe with full beard looks worried\" class=\"wp-image-13991710\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-44304_MSG_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-44304_MSG_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-44304_MSG_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-44304_MSG_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Matt Damon as Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey.’ (Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em> isn’t sufficiently rich and wise enough to accommodate more than a couple jokes (unlike your blasphemous critic), nor is it anywhere near dull or bad enough to invite you to whisper wisecracks in your neighbor’s ear. Only afterward, when I was thinking about Jack Kerouac’s \u003cem>On the Road\u003c/em> as well as the extensive, irresistible subgenre of road movies, did it dawn on me that in \u003cem>Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas\u003c/em>, the protagonist (aka Hunter S. Thompson) receives his visions from the gods via acid and speed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I invite you to come up with your own modern-day reference points during or after \u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em>. There’s the Coen Brothers’ \u003cem>O Brother, Where Art Thou\u003c/em>, of course, and Joseph Conrad’s \u003cem>Heart of Darkness\u003c/em> as reimagined by Francis Ford Coppola as \u003cem>Apocalypse Now\u003c/em>. Telemachus’ impatience, for that matter, may remind you of another stubborn son, \u003cem>Dune\u003c/em>’s Paul Atreides.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I do wish that Nolan had had the wit and whimsy to play Blind Faith (“I’m wasted and I can’t find my way home”) over the end credits. Or, swapping British yearning for Southern California wistfulness, Steely Dan’s \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/0Mv-zD9s58w?si=tpAn6ttMD9mjbNNk\">jazz-pop soliloquy\u003c/a>: “Well, the danger on the rocks is surely passed/Still I remain tied to the mast/Could it be that I have found my home at last/Home at last.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Odyssey’ opens in theaters July 17.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Classic-rock fans know by heart the ’60s super-group Blind Faith’s \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/gm7JmCSymy4?si=LJ7E6W7MPjeee2eK\">most enduring song\u003c/a>: “Come down off your throne and leave your body alone/Somebody must change/You are the reason I’ve been waiting so long/Somebody holds the key.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I don’t think Steve Winwood had the separated King Odysseus and Queen Penelope of ancient Ithaca in mind when he wrote \u003cem>Can’t Find My Way Home\u003c/em>. Nonetheless, one of writer-director Christopher Nolan’s inescapable and unsolvable challenges in adapting \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.odysseymovie.com/\">The Odyssey\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (opening Friday, July 17) is that Homer’s touchstone myths, foundational themes and indelible set pieces have inspired countless contemporary works of art and are embedded and assimilated into our stories and vocabulary.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>I don’t think Steve Winwood had the separated King Odysseus and Queen Penelope of ancient Ithaca in mind when he wrote \u003cem>Can’t Find My Way Home\u003c/em>. Nonetheless, one of writer-director Christopher Nolan’s inescapable and unsolvable challenges in adapting \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.odysseymovie.com/\">The Odyssey\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (opening Friday, July 17) is that Homer’s touchstone myths, foundational themes and indelible set pieces have inspired countless contemporary works of art and are embedded and assimilated into our stories and vocabulary.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Nolan (\u003cem>Inception\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Oppenheimer\u003c/em>) is probably the best person this side of Ridley Scott to devise a three-hour, mammoth-budget commercial movie with artistic, literary and intellectual filigrees. He is adept at working on a big canvas, though I’ve never understood how a pop philosopher attained a reputation as a director of profound ideas.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Nolan (\u003cem>Inception\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Oppenheimer\u003c/em>) is probably the best person this side of Ridley Scott to devise a three-hour, mammoth-budget commercial movie with artistic, literary and intellectual filigrees. He is adept at working on a big canvas, though I’ve never understood how a pop philosopher attained a reputation as a director of profound ideas.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Like so much of Nolan’s oeuvre, \u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em> is a grand-scale, masculine action-adventure bow-tied with frilly robes of Hallmark-card philosophy. The filmmaker’s ability to thrust audiences into the center of chaotic battles and frenetic dangers — abetted, as always, by a crammed (Oscar, can you hear me?) sound design turbocharged at climactic moments by a drums-and-bass assault — carries the day.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Like so much of Nolan’s oeuvre, \u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em> is a grand-scale, masculine action-adventure bow-tied with frilly robes of Hallmark-card philosophy. The filmmaker’s ability to thrust audiences into the center of chaotic battles and frenetic dangers — abetted, as always, by a crammed (Oscar, can you hear me?) sound design turbocharged at climactic moments by a drums-and-bass assault — carries the day.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG_2000.jpg\" alt=\"soldiers fight in front of burning ancient city\" class=\"wp-image-13991708\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A scene from Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey.’\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG_2000.jpg\" alt=\"soldiers fight in front of burning ancient city\" class=\"wp-image-13991708\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A scene from Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey.’\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Perhaps inevitably, the movie’s power is undercut by the many expository dialogue scenes. They aren’t boring, exactly, but matinee stars of limited range (Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya) delivering lines devoid of poetry does not make for emotionally involved audiences.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Perhaps inevitably, the movie’s power is undercut by the many expository dialogue scenes. They aren’t boring, exactly, but matinee stars of limited range (Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya) delivering lines devoid of poetry does not make for emotionally involved audiences.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In other words, if you have any interest at all in \u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em>, see it now on the biggest screen you can. You will be rewarded with immersion in the spectacle and the scenery. However, if you are indifferent, I encourage you to respect Nolan’s formidable undertaking by avoiding the TV-size streaming and DVD formats down the road.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In other words, if you have any interest at all in \u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em>, see it now on the biggest screen you can. You will be rewarded with immersion in the spectacle and the scenery. However, if you are indifferent, I encourage you to respect Nolan’s formidable undertaking by avoiding the TV-size streaming and DVD formats down the road.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Nolan’s \u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em> is largely structured as a series of flashbacks (and flashbacks within flashbacks) recounted by the shipwrecked Odysseus to the ageless Calypso (Charlize Theron) seven years after his army invaded and defeated Troy. The poor guy just wants to get back to his wife and dog, but the gods have arrayed a litany of life-threatening obstacles (Cyclops, Circe, Sirens) for Odysseus and his ever-dwindling battalion of ocean-traveling soldier-sailors.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Nolan’s \u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em> is largely structured as a series of flashbacks (and flashbacks within flashbacks) recounted by the shipwrecked Odysseus to the ageless Calypso (Charlize Theron) seven years after his army invaded and defeated Troy. The poor guy just wants to get back to his wife and dog, but the gods have arrayed a litany of life-threatening obstacles (Cyclops, Circe, Sirens) for Odysseus and his ever-dwindling battalion of ocean-traveling soldier-sailors.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-19534_2000.jpg\" alt=\"woman in blue robe and younger man stand looking out from parapet to distance\" class=\"wp-image-13991709\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-19534_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-19534_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-19534_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-19534_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Anne Hathaway is Penelope and Tom Holland is Telemachus in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey.’\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-19534_2000.jpg\" alt=\"woman in blue robe and younger man stand looking out from parapet to distance\" class=\"wp-image-13991709\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Anne Hathaway is Penelope and Tom Holland is Telemachus in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey.’\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Odysseus possesses supreme confidence but dubious decision-making ability; alas, Nolan and Damon portray him as a relentlessly heroic figure — tailor-made for audience identification — rather than a man of bottomless hubris who has brought his fate (and his men’s) upon himself, with a little assistance from the gods.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Odysseus possesses supreme confidence but dubious decision-making ability; alas, Nolan and Damon portray him as a relentlessly heroic figure — tailor-made for audience identification — rather than a man of bottomless hubris who has brought his fate (and his men’s) upon himself, with a little assistance from the gods.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, back at the palace, the queen and her son Telemachus (a doughy Tom Holland) debate the dim possibility that the king still draws breath after so many years without a sighting. The dining room overflows with suitors for the queen’s hand and the king’s crown, with the pack headed by Antinous (Robert Pattinson, resembling a young, lean and hungry Dylan McDermott).\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, back at the palace, the queen and her son Telemachus (a doughy Tom Holland) debate the dim possibility that the king still draws breath after so many years without a sighting. The dining room overflows with suitors for the queen’s hand and the king’s crown, with the pack headed by Antinous (Robert Pattinson, resembling a young, lean and hungry Dylan McDermott).\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Late in the proceedings, after so much horror and death puts Odysseus in a reflective mood, Nolan finally shows us the horrific impact of war on Troy’s civilians. The suffering of these anonymous people is a catalyst for Odysseus’ awakening to the cost of his ego and ambition. In Happy Ending Hollywood, the director wants us to take strength along with that warning, so he reminds us yet again of the merits of sacrifice, loyalty and perseverance during the final stage of Odysseus’ return.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Late in the proceedings, after so much horror and death puts Odysseus in a reflective mood, Nolan finally shows us the horrific impact of war on Troy’s civilians. The suffering of these anonymous people is a catalyst for Odysseus’ awakening to the cost of his ego and ambition. In Happy Ending Hollywood, the director wants us to take strength along with that warning, so he reminds us yet again of the merits of sacrifice, loyalty and perseverance during the final stage of Odysseus’ return.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-44304_MSG_2000.jpg\" alt=\"man in robe with full beard looks worried\" class=\"wp-image-13991710\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-44304_MSG_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-44304_MSG_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-44304_MSG_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-44304_MSG_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Matt Damon as Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey.’\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em> isn’t sufficiently rich and wise enough to accommodate more than a couple jokes (unlike your blasphemous critic), nor is it anywhere near dull or bad enough to invite you to whisper wisecracks in your neighbor’s ear. Only afterward, when I was thinking about Jack Kerouac’s \u003cem>On the Road\u003c/em> as well as the extensive, irresistible subgenre of road movies, did it dawn on me that in \u003cem>Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas\u003c/em>, the protagonist (aka Hunter S. Thompson) receives his visions from the gods via acid and speed.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em> isn’t sufficiently rich and wise enough to accommodate more than a couple jokes (unlike your blasphemous critic), nor is it anywhere near dull or bad enough to invite you to whisper wisecracks in your neighbor’s ear. Only afterward, when I was thinking about Jack Kerouac’s \u003cem>On the Road\u003c/em> as well as the extensive, irresistible subgenre of road movies, did it dawn on me that in \u003cem>Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas\u003c/em>, the protagonist (aka Hunter S. Thompson) receives his visions from the gods via acid and speed.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I invite you to come up with your own modern-day reference points during or after \u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em>. There’s the Coen Brothers’ \u003cem>O Brother, Where Art Thou\u003c/em>, of course, and Joseph Conrad’s \u003cem>Heart of Darkness\u003c/em> as reimagined by Francis Ford Coppola as \u003cem>Apocalypse Now\u003c/em>. Telemachus’ impatience, for that matter, may remind you of another stubborn son, \u003cem>Dune\u003c/em>’s Paul Atreides.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>I invite you to come up with your own modern-day reference points during or after \u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em>. There’s the Coen Brothers’ \u003cem>O Brother, Where Art Thou\u003c/em>, of course, and Joseph Conrad’s \u003cem>Heart of Darkness\u003c/em> as reimagined by Francis Ford Coppola as \u003cem>Apocalypse Now\u003c/em>. Telemachus’ impatience, for that matter, may remind you of another stubborn son, \u003cem>Dune\u003c/em>’s Paul Atreides.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I do wish that Nolan had had the wit and whimsy to play Blind Faith (“I’m wasted and I can’t find my way home”) over the end credits. Or, swapping British yearning for Southern California wistfulness, Steely Dan’s \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/0Mv-zD9s58w?si=tpAn6ttMD9mjbNNk\">jazz-pop soliloquy\u003c/a>: “Well, the danger on the rocks is surely passed/Still I remain tied to the mast/Could it be that I have found my home at last/Home at last.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "‘The Odyssey’ Review: Thrills and Spills Highlight Familiar Tale | KQED",
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"subhead": "Christopher Nolan's entertaining three-hour adaptation of Homer's epic should be seen on the biggest screen possible.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Classic-rock fans know by heart the ’60s super-group Blind Faith’s \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/gm7JmCSymy4?si=LJ7E6W7MPjeee2eK\">most enduring song\u003c/a>: “Come down off your throne and leave your body alone/Somebody must change/You are the reason I’ve been waiting so long/Somebody holds the key.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I don’t think Steve Winwood had the separated King Odysseus and Queen Penelope of ancient Ithaca in mind when he wrote \u003cem>Can’t Find My Way Home\u003c/em>. Nonetheless, one of writer-director Christopher Nolan’s inescapable and unsolvable challenges in adapting \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.odysseymovie.com/\">The Odyssey\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (opening Friday, July 17) is that Homer’s touchstone myths, foundational themes and indelible set pieces have inspired countless contemporary works of art and are embedded and assimilated into our stories and vocabulary.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nolan (\u003cem>Inception\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Oppenheimer\u003c/em>) is probably the best person this side of Ridley Scott to devise a three-hour, mammoth-budget commercial movie with artistic, literary and intellectual filigrees. He is adept at working on a big canvas, though I’ve never understood how a pop philosopher attained a reputation as a director of profound ideas.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Like so much of Nolan’s oeuvre, \u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em> is a grand-scale, masculine action-adventure bow-tied with frilly robes of Hallmark-card philosophy. The filmmaker’s ability to thrust audiences into the center of chaotic battles and frenetic dangers — abetted, as always, by a crammed (Oscar, can you hear me?) sound design turbocharged at climactic moments by a drums-and-bass assault — carries the day.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG_2000.jpg\" alt=\"soldiers fight in front of burning ancient city\" class=\"wp-image-13991708\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A scene from Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey.’ (Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Perhaps inevitably, the movie’s power is undercut by the many expository dialogue scenes. They aren’t boring, exactly, but matinee stars of limited range (Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya) delivering lines devoid of poetry does not make for emotionally involved audiences.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, if you have any interest at all in \u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em>, see it now on the biggest screen you can. You will be rewarded with immersion in the spectacle and the scenery. However, if you are indifferent, I encourage you to respect Nolan’s formidable undertaking by avoiding the TV-size streaming and DVD formats down the road.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nolan’s \u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em> is largely structured as a series of flashbacks (and flashbacks within flashbacks) recounted by the shipwrecked Odysseus to the ageless Calypso (Charlize Theron) seven years after his army invaded and defeated Troy. The poor guy just wants to get back to his wife and dog, but the gods have arrayed a litany of life-threatening obstacles (Cyclops, Circe, Sirens) for Odysseus and his ever-dwindling battalion of ocean-traveling soldier-sailors.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-19534_2000.jpg\" alt=\"woman in blue robe and younger man stand looking out from parapet to distance\" class=\"wp-image-13991709\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-19534_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-19534_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-19534_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-19534_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Anne Hathaway is Penelope and Tom Holland is Telemachus in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey.’ (Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Odysseus possesses supreme confidence but dubious decision-making ability; alas, Nolan and Damon portray him as a relentlessly heroic figure — tailor-made for audience identification — rather than a man of bottomless hubris who has brought his fate (and his men’s) upon himself, with a little assistance from the gods.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, back at the palace, the queen and her son Telemachus (a doughy Tom Holland) debate the dim possibility that the king still draws breath after so many years without a sighting. The dining room overflows with suitors for the queen’s hand and the king’s crown, with the pack headed by Antinous (Robert Pattinson, resembling a young, lean and hungry Dylan McDermott).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Late in the proceedings, after so much horror and death puts Odysseus in a reflective mood, Nolan finally shows us the horrific impact of war on Troy’s civilians. The suffering of these anonymous people is a catalyst for Odysseus’ awakening to the cost of his ego and ambition. In Happy Ending Hollywood, the director wants us to take strength along with that warning, so he reminds us yet again of the merits of sacrifice, loyalty and perseverance during the final stage of Odysseus’ return.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-44304_MSG_2000.jpg\" alt=\"man in robe with full beard looks worried\" class=\"wp-image-13991710\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-44304_MSG_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-44304_MSG_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-44304_MSG_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/CT-44304_MSG_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Matt Damon as Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey.’ (Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em> isn’t sufficiently rich and wise enough to accommodate more than a couple jokes (unlike your blasphemous critic), nor is it anywhere near dull or bad enough to invite you to whisper wisecracks in your neighbor’s ear. Only afterward, when I was thinking about Jack Kerouac’s \u003cem>On the Road\u003c/em> as well as the extensive, irresistible subgenre of road movies, did it dawn on me that in \u003cem>Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas\u003c/em>, the protagonist (aka Hunter S. Thompson) receives his visions from the gods via acid and speed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I invite you to come up with your own modern-day reference points during or after \u003cem>The Odyssey\u003c/em>. There’s the Coen Brothers’ \u003cem>O Brother, Where Art Thou\u003c/em>, of course, and Joseph Conrad’s \u003cem>Heart of Darkness\u003c/em> as reimagined by Francis Ford Coppola as \u003cem>Apocalypse Now\u003c/em>. Telemachus’ impatience, for that matter, may remind you of another stubborn son, \u003cem>Dune\u003c/em>’s Paul Atreides.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I do wish that Nolan had had the wit and whimsy to play Blind Faith (“I’m wasted and I can’t find my way home”) over the end credits. Or, swapping British yearning for Southern California wistfulness, Steely Dan’s \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/0Mv-zD9s58w?si=tpAn6ttMD9mjbNNk\">jazz-pop soliloquy\u003c/a>: “Well, the danger on the rocks is surely passed/Still I remain tied to the mast/Could it be that I have found my home at last/Home at last.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Odyssey’ opens in theaters July 17.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "In ‘Wood Street,’ Encampment Residents Fight to Remain",
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"content": "\u003cp>For years, when Oakland police kicked people out of encampments, they’d tell them to go to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/wood-street\">Wood Street\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Eventually, the Caltrans- and city-owned lot in West Oakland grew into Northern California’s largest community of unhoused people, with 300 residents at its peak during the pandemic. They laid bricks, hammered plywood and planted flowers. They cobbled together makeshift homes and two community centers with showers, bathrooms and a free store. For many struggling with mental health and addiction, the shelter and resources they built for themselves became a lifeline.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Filmmaker Caron Creighton first got to know these residents as a multimedia producer at the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>. When the Wood Street encampment received an eviction notice in 2022, she quit her job and spent nearly a year following them with her camera, documenting their efforts to stop the sweeps.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I just thought it was really powerful,” she says, “people really taking their power back and fighting for what they believed in.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Creighton’s new documentary, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.woodstmovie.com/\">Wood Street\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, premieres in Oakland this week with screenings at the New Parkway (July 14, 6:30 p.m.) and the Grand Lake Theatre (July 15, 7:30 p.m.). The film follows two Wood Street residents, John Janosko and LaMonté Ford, as they rally their community to defend their home. With the help of lawyers and advocates, Wood Street residents eventually sue the city and state to attempt to stop the evictions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All this stuff, these resources, these connections, these people, this caring, this love — that took time,” Janosko said in a 2023 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949327/the-end-of-wood-street-inside-the-struggle-for-stability-housing-on-the-margins-of-the-bay-area\">KQED interview \u003c/a>about the encampment. “It takes time to be able to get to a point where you’re able to take care of yourself, and also help take care of your community.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Throughout the film, many residents explain that they’ve settled at Wood Street because there’s a lack of dignified housing alternatives. In order to access temporary shelter beds, unhoused people must abandon their pets and belongings, only to be sent back on the street shortly after. At tiny home sites, residents say they are left to fend for themselves amid a lack of resources and outbreaks of violence. And neither shelters nor tiny home communities have enough space to accommodate Oakland’s estimated \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/05/19/oakland-pit-count-homeless-drop-20-percent/\">4,410 homeless residents\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/shot-of-demands-sign-and-community-in-the-background-color.jpg\" alt='A sign outside the Wood Street encampment reads: \"Permanent and supportive housing, public land for public good, resident advisory board, moratorium on all evictions, meet with the mayor and city officials.\"' class=\"wp-image-13991610\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/shot-of-demands-sign-and-community-in-the-background-color.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/shot-of-demands-sign-and-community-in-the-background-color-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/shot-of-demands-sign-and-community-in-the-background-color-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/shot-of-demands-sign-and-community-in-the-background-color-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/shot-of-demands-sign-and-community-in-the-background-color-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Wood Street residents’ demands to the city of Oakland. (Bad Name Media/Caron Creighton)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Notably, \u003cem>Wood Street\u003c/em> doesn’t feature interviews with politicians or other talking heads. Nor does it portray its protagonists merely as victims. In Janosko’s phone footage of community meals and clean-ups, we see imperfect people making a way despite dismal circumstances. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“As I was a reporter covering homelessness, it felt like you always had to have an outside expert talking about it, but a homeless person’s experience isn’t necessarily considered an expertise,” Creighton says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>With the documentary, she set out to change that. Creighton captures the psychological toll of the looming eviction as residents relapse into addiction, struggle with mental health and lose the tenuous sense of stability they’d managed to build. Strong personalities emerge, and tensions run high.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I wanted to show how all of these processes move to impact an individual. They impact people’s mental health in such a negative way,” Creighton says. “A lot of people are struggling with addiction, and the stress of an encampment sweep isn’t going to help them get clean.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Wood-Street-crushing-flowers-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991609\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Wood-Street-crushing-flowers-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Wood-Street-crushing-flowers-1-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Wood-Street-crushing-flowers-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Wood-Street-crushing-flowers-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Wood-Street-crushing-flowers-1-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A still from ’Wood Street.’ The new documentary follows unhoused residents of a makeshift community as they attempt to fight their eviction. (Bad Name Media/Caron Creighton)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Wood Street\u003c/em> comes to a tear-jerking crescendo when bulldozers finally arrive to crush people’s homes and belongings. City officials justify the eviction by citing a new affordable housing development slated for the site. That building is now open, and with rents starting at $1,845 for a studio apartment, it’s out of reach for many low-income workers. The encampment site itself is now a parking lot. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The word ‘affordable,’ I think, is incredibly misleading,” Creighton says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After Wood Street was cleared out in 2023, many of the residents moved into a tiny home site, which the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047641/oakland-built-a-shelter-for-unhoused-residents-of-wood-street-now-its-evicting-them\">city of Oakland also later evicted\u003c/a>. Only a fraction of them made it into permanent housing. The rest have scattered to encampments around the area. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, California \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12046259/how-grants-pass-ruling-affected-homeless-enforcement-in-california\">ramped up encampment sweeps\u003c/a> after the Supreme Court’s 2024 Grants Pass Supreme Court ruling. For many homeless people, each sweep means losing irreplaceable documents, possessions and support systems. These life disruptions can have dire consequences, \u003ca href=\"https://nhchc.org/study-shows-involuntary-displacement-of-people-experiencing-homelessness-may-cause-significant-spikes-in-mortality-overdoses-and-hospitalizations/\">including increased chances of overdose and even death\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s a better way, there has to be,” Creighton says. “We don’t have to be traumatizing people in order to get them off the street.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Wood Street’ screens on Tuesday, July 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.thenewparkway.com/upcomingevents/calendar/\">\u003cem>New Parkway\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> (474 24th St., Oakland), and on Wednesday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m., at the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.renaissancerialto.com/directions.php\">\u003cem>Grand Lake Theatre\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> (3200 Grand Ave., Oakland). Sold out online; limited tickets available at the door.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Filmmaker Caron Creighton first got to know these residents as a multimedia producer at the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>. When the Wood Street encampment received an eviction notice in 2022, she quit her job and spent nearly a year following them with her camera, documenting their efforts to stop the sweeps.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I just thought it was really powerful,” she says, “people really taking their power back and fighting for what they believed in.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Creighton’s new documentary, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.woodstmovie.com/\">Wood Street\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, premieres in Oakland this week with screenings at the New Parkway (July 14, 6:30 p.m.) and the Grand Lake Theatre (July 15, 7:30 p.m.). The film follows two Wood Street residents, John Janosko and LaMonté Ford, as they rally their community to defend their home. With the help of lawyers and advocates, Wood Street residents eventually sue the city and state to attempt to stop the evictions.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“All this stuff, these resources, these connections, these people, this caring, this love — that took time,” Janosko said in a 2023 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949327/the-end-of-wood-street-inside-the-struggle-for-stability-housing-on-the-margins-of-the-bay-area\">KQED interview \u003c/a>about the encampment. “It takes time to be able to get to a point where you’re able to take care of yourself, and also help take care of your community.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Throughout the film, many residents explain that they’ve settled at Wood Street because there’s a lack of dignified housing alternatives. In order to access temporary shelter beds, unhoused people must abandon their pets and belongings, only to be sent back on the street shortly after. At tiny home sites, residents say they are left to fend for themselves amid a lack of resources and outbreaks of violence. And neither shelters nor tiny home communities have enough space to accommodate Oakland’s estimated \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/05/19/oakland-pit-count-homeless-drop-20-percent/\">4,410 homeless residents\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Throughout the film, many residents explain that they’ve settled at Wood Street because there’s a lack of dignified housing alternatives. In order to access temporary shelter beds, unhoused people must abandon their pets and belongings, only to be sent back on the street shortly after. At tiny home sites, residents say they are left to fend for themselves amid a lack of resources and outbreaks of violence. And neither shelters nor tiny home communities have enough space to accommodate Oakland’s estimated \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/05/19/oakland-pit-count-homeless-drop-20-percent/\">4,410 homeless residents\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/shot-of-demands-sign-and-community-in-the-background-color.jpg\" alt=\"A sign outside the Wood Street encampment reads: "Permanent and supportive housing, public land for public good, resident advisory board, moratorium on all evictions, meet with the mayor and city officials."\" class=\"wp-image-13991610\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Wood Street residents’ demands to the city of Oakland. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Notably, \u003cem>Wood Street\u003c/em> doesn’t feature interviews with politicians or other talking heads. Nor does it portray its protagonists merely as victims. In Janosko’s phone footage of community meals and clean-ups, we see imperfect people making a way despite dismal circumstances. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“As I was a reporter covering homelessness, it felt like you always had to have an outside expert talking about it, but a homeless person’s experience isn’t necessarily considered an expertise,” Creighton says. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>With the documentary, she set out to change that. Creighton captures the psychological toll of the looming eviction as residents relapse into addiction, struggle with mental health and lose the tenuous sense of stability they’d managed to build. Strong personalities emerge, and tensions run high.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>With the documentary, she set out to change that. Creighton captures the psychological toll of the looming eviction as residents relapse into addiction, struggle with mental health and lose the tenuous sense of stability they’d managed to build. Strong personalities emerge, and tensions run high.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I wanted to show how all of these processes move to impact an individual. They impact people’s mental health in such a negative way,” Creighton says. “A lot of people are struggling with addiction, and the stress of an encampment sweep isn’t going to help them get clean.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I wanted to show how all of these processes move to impact an individual. They impact people’s mental health in such a negative way,” Creighton says. “A lot of people are struggling with addiction, and the stress of an encampment sweep isn’t going to help them get clean.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Wood Street\u003c/em> comes to a tear-jerking crescendo when bulldozers finally arrive to crush people’s homes and belongings. City officials justify the eviction by citing a new affordable housing development slated for the site. That building is now open, and with rents starting at $1,845 for a studio apartment, it’s out of reach for many low-income workers. The encampment site itself is now a parking lot. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Wood Street\u003c/em> comes to a tear-jerking crescendo when bulldozers finally arrive to crush people’s homes and belongings. City officials justify the eviction by citing a new affordable housing development slated for the site. That building is now open, and with rents starting at $1,845 for a studio apartment, it’s out of reach for many low-income workers. The encampment site itself is now a parking lot. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The word ‘affordable,’ I think, is incredibly misleading,” Creighton says.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After Wood Street was cleared out in 2023, many of the residents moved into a tiny home site, which the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047641/oakland-built-a-shelter-for-unhoused-residents-of-wood-street-now-its-evicting-them\">city of Oakland also later evicted\u003c/a>. Only a fraction of them made it into permanent housing. The rest have scattered to encampments around the area. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>After Wood Street was cleared out in 2023, many of the residents moved into a tiny home site, which the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047641/oakland-built-a-shelter-for-unhoused-residents-of-wood-street-now-its-evicting-them\">city of Oakland also later evicted\u003c/a>. Only a fraction of them made it into permanent housing. The rest have scattered to encampments around the area. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, California \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12046259/how-grants-pass-ruling-affected-homeless-enforcement-in-california\">ramped up encampment sweeps\u003c/a> after the Supreme Court’s 2024 Grants Pass Supreme Court ruling. For many homeless people, each sweep means losing irreplaceable documents, possessions and support systems. These life disruptions can have dire consequences, \u003ca href=\"https://nhchc.org/study-shows-involuntary-displacement-of-people-experiencing-homelessness-may-cause-significant-spikes-in-mortality-overdoses-and-hospitalizations/\">including increased chances of overdose and even death\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, California \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12046259/how-grants-pass-ruling-affected-homeless-enforcement-in-california\">ramped up encampment sweeps\u003c/a> after the Supreme Court’s 2024 Grants Pass Supreme Court ruling. For many homeless people, each sweep means losing irreplaceable documents, possessions and support systems. These life disruptions can have dire consequences, \u003ca href=\"https://nhchc.org/study-shows-involuntary-displacement-of-people-experiencing-homelessness-may-cause-significant-spikes-in-mortality-overdoses-and-hospitalizations/\">including increased chances of overdose and even death\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There’s a better way, there has to be,” Creighton says. “We don’t have to be traumatizing people in order to get them off the street.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Wood Street’ screens on Tuesday, July 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.thenewparkway.com/upcomingevents/calendar/\">\u003cem>New Parkway\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> (474 24th St., Oakland), and on Wednesday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m., at the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.renaissancerialto.com/directions.php\">\u003cem>Grand Lake Theatre\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> (3200 Grand Ave., Oakland). Sold out online; limited tickets available at the door.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For years, when Oakland police kicked people out of encampments, they’d tell them to go to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/wood-street\">Wood Street\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Eventually, the Caltrans- and city-owned lot in West Oakland grew into Northern California’s largest community of unhoused people, with 300 residents at its peak during the pandemic. They laid bricks, hammered plywood and planted flowers. They cobbled together makeshift homes and two community centers with showers, bathrooms and a free store. For many struggling with mental health and addiction, the shelter and resources they built for themselves became a lifeline.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Filmmaker Caron Creighton first got to know these residents as a multimedia producer at the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>. When the Wood Street encampment received an eviction notice in 2022, she quit her job and spent nearly a year following them with her camera, documenting their efforts to stop the sweeps.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I just thought it was really powerful,” she says, “people really taking their power back and fighting for what they believed in.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Creighton’s new documentary, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.woodstmovie.com/\">Wood Street\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, premieres in Oakland this week with screenings at the New Parkway (July 14, 6:30 p.m.) and the Grand Lake Theatre (July 15, 7:30 p.m.). The film follows two Wood Street residents, John Janosko and LaMonté Ford, as they rally their community to defend their home. With the help of lawyers and advocates, Wood Street residents eventually sue the city and state to attempt to stop the evictions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All this stuff, these resources, these connections, these people, this caring, this love — that took time,” Janosko said in a 2023 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949327/the-end-of-wood-street-inside-the-struggle-for-stability-housing-on-the-margins-of-the-bay-area\">KQED interview \u003c/a>about the encampment. “It takes time to be able to get to a point where you’re able to take care of yourself, and also help take care of your community.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Throughout the film, many residents explain that they’ve settled at Wood Street because there’s a lack of dignified housing alternatives. In order to access temporary shelter beds, unhoused people must abandon their pets and belongings, only to be sent back on the street shortly after. At tiny home sites, residents say they are left to fend for themselves amid a lack of resources and outbreaks of violence. And neither shelters nor tiny home communities have enough space to accommodate Oakland’s estimated \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/05/19/oakland-pit-count-homeless-drop-20-percent/\">4,410 homeless residents\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/shot-of-demands-sign-and-community-in-the-background-color.jpg\" alt='A sign outside the Wood Street encampment reads: \"Permanent and supportive housing, public land for public good, resident advisory board, moratorium on all evictions, meet with the mayor and city officials.\"' class=\"wp-image-13991610\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/shot-of-demands-sign-and-community-in-the-background-color.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/shot-of-demands-sign-and-community-in-the-background-color-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/shot-of-demands-sign-and-community-in-the-background-color-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/shot-of-demands-sign-and-community-in-the-background-color-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/shot-of-demands-sign-and-community-in-the-background-color-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Wood Street residents’ demands to the city of Oakland. (Bad Name Media/Caron Creighton)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Notably, \u003cem>Wood Street\u003c/em> doesn’t feature interviews with politicians or other talking heads. Nor does it portray its protagonists merely as victims. In Janosko’s phone footage of community meals and clean-ups, we see imperfect people making a way despite dismal circumstances. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“As I was a reporter covering homelessness, it felt like you always had to have an outside expert talking about it, but a homeless person’s experience isn’t necessarily considered an expertise,” Creighton says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>With the documentary, she set out to change that. Creighton captures the psychological toll of the looming eviction as residents relapse into addiction, struggle with mental health and lose the tenuous sense of stability they’d managed to build. Strong personalities emerge, and tensions run high.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I wanted to show how all of these processes move to impact an individual. They impact people’s mental health in such a negative way,” Creighton says. “A lot of people are struggling with addiction, and the stress of an encampment sweep isn’t going to help them get clean.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Wood-Street-crushing-flowers-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991609\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Wood-Street-crushing-flowers-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Wood-Street-crushing-flowers-1-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Wood-Street-crushing-flowers-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Wood-Street-crushing-flowers-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Wood-Street-crushing-flowers-1-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A still from ’Wood Street.’ The new documentary follows unhoused residents of a makeshift community as they attempt to fight their eviction. (Bad Name Media/Caron Creighton)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Wood Street\u003c/em> comes to a tear-jerking crescendo when bulldozers finally arrive to crush people’s homes and belongings. City officials justify the eviction by citing a new affordable housing development slated for the site. That building is now open, and with rents starting at $1,845 for a studio apartment, it’s out of reach for many low-income workers. The encampment site itself is now a parking lot. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The word ‘affordable,’ I think, is incredibly misleading,” Creighton says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After Wood Street was cleared out in 2023, many of the residents moved into a tiny home site, which the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047641/oakland-built-a-shelter-for-unhoused-residents-of-wood-street-now-its-evicting-them\">city of Oakland also later evicted\u003c/a>. Only a fraction of them made it into permanent housing. The rest have scattered to encampments around the area. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, California \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12046259/how-grants-pass-ruling-affected-homeless-enforcement-in-california\">ramped up encampment sweeps\u003c/a> after the Supreme Court’s 2024 Grants Pass Supreme Court ruling. For many homeless people, each sweep means losing irreplaceable documents, possessions and support systems. These life disruptions can have dire consequences, \u003ca href=\"https://nhchc.org/study-shows-involuntary-displacement-of-people-experiencing-homelessness-may-cause-significant-spikes-in-mortality-overdoses-and-hospitalizations/\">including increased chances of overdose and even death\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s a better way, there has to be,” Creighton says. “We don’t have to be traumatizing people in order to get them off the street.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Wood Street’ screens on Tuesday, July 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.thenewparkway.com/upcomingevents/calendar/\">\u003cem>New Parkway\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> (474 24th St., Oakland), and on Wednesday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m., at the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.renaissancerialto.com/directions.php\">\u003cem>Grand Lake Theatre\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> (3200 Grand Ave., Oakland). Sold out online; limited tickets available at the door.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "A Jewel From the World of Black Film Arrives at YBCA",
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"content": "\u003cp>When Ashley Clark joined the Criterion Collection as its curatorial director in 2020, he brought along a wish list of titles he hoped to acquire. One was Zeinabu irene Davis’ first narrative feature, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.criterionchannel.com/compensation\">Compensation\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, a 1999 black-and-white film about two Chicago couples who mirror each other across an expanse of decades.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s such a unique and thoughtful film about a lot of serious issues,” Clark tells KQED. “It could sound academic or forbidding, but it’s made with such a spirit of generosity.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Deaf actress Michelle A. Banks and hearing actor John Earl Jelks play Malindy and Arthur in the 1910s (and Malaika and Nico in the 1990s), Black Americans facing racism and emerging pandemics. Davis uses inventive techniques, like silent film–era intertitles and archival images, to tell the two love stories in a way that Clark describes as “alive and beautiful and engaging.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On July 17, Clark will screen \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://ybca.org/event/the-world-of-black-film-screening-book-signing-7-17-26/\">Compensation\u003c/a>\u003c/em> at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in a co-presentation with the Bay Area Video Coalition. Both Davis and Clark will be present for a conversation following the screening. The event is a rare treat that just a few years ago would have been even more of a rarity.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://vimeo.com/1049085193\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Compensation\u003c/em> screened at festivals 27 years ago, but the film was never picked up by distributors, and therefore never released in theaters. It remained in circulation thanks to \u003ca href=\"https://www.wmm.com/\">Women Make Movies\u003c/a>, a nonprofit distributor in New York. That is, until Clark approached Davis about acquiring \u003cem>Compensation\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Davis’ independent feature is finally reaching audiences en masse. \u003cem>Compensation \u003c/em>began streaming on the Criterion Channel in 2021, entered the Library of Congress’ \u003ca href=\"https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/25-films-named-to-national-film-registry-for-preservation/s/55d5285d-916f-4105-b7d4-7fc3ba8664e3\">National Film Registry\u003c/a> in 2024, was digitally restored in 4K, received its first theatrical release in 2025, and is now out in the world as a Blu-ray and DVD.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“One of our metrics of success really is looking at \u003ca href=\"https://letterboxd.com/film/compensation-1999/\">Letterboxd\u003c/a>,” Clark explains. “You can see that this film has gone from a small number of logged views to suddenly hundreds and hundreds of reviews on there from young cinephiles who are giving it four-star reviews and five-star reviews and saying, ‘Where was this film all my life?’”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Compensation\u003c/em> is just one of 100 films Clark has identified that could elicit a similar response. His book \u003ca href=\"https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-world-of-black-film-a-journey-through-cinematic-blackness-in-100-films-with-a-foreword-by-john-akomfrah-ashley-clark/97ee234f39de4965?ean=9781529438253\">\u003cem>The World of Black Film: A Journey Through Cinematic Blackness in 100 Films\u003c/em>\u003c/a> came out earlier this year. The compendium isn’t a collection of “the greatest,” Clark explains, but a series of personal arguments for significance.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark.png\" alt=\"bright green book cover with title and image of Black woman, spread of essay and film stills\" class=\"wp-image-13991538\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark.png 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark-768x432.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark-1200x675.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ashley Clark’s ‘The World of Black Film’ was published by Laurence King Publishing in February 2026. (YBCA)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I wanted to present something that was quite subjective and potentially contentious,” says Clark, who has Jamaican heritage, was born and raised in the U.K. and now lives in the United States. “One of the things with the book that I’m trying to gently push back against is a sort of reflexive conflation of Black film with American film.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Included in the book are Ibrahim Shaddad’s 1964 film \u003ca href=\"https://www.criterionchannel.com/hunting-party\">\u003cem>Hunting Party\u003c/em>\u003c/a> (a thesis film by a 19-year-old Sudanese filmmaker in Germany); Flora Gomes’ 1988 \u003cem>Mortu Nega\u003c/em> (the first film produced in independent Guinea-Bissau); and Jordan Peele’s 2017 breakout \u003cem>Get Out\u003c/em>. Clark’s essays are unpretentious, chatty and very personal, knitting together a chronological network of influences and ideas. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The book’s films span 30 countries and 111 years. Like \u003cem>Compensation\u003c/em> before its restoration and theatrical release, not all 100 are readily available to all audiences. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>YBCA has yet to bring back \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13841205/curatorial-crisis-bay-area-art-institutions\">a full film program\u003c/a>, but cinephiles will be pleased to hear of at least one substantive series on the horizon: Clark will return this fall for a weekly program drawn from the pages of \u003cem>The World of Black Film\u003c/em>. Subtitled “Revolutions,” the Nov. 14–Dec. 19 series will focus on films from the 1960s to the early 1980s — when decolonization movements and radical politics led to greater numbers of Black filmmakers. (\u003cem>Mortu Negra\u003c/em>, recently restored, will screen Dec. 5.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I hope that everything in the book one day does become available,” Clark says. “And if my book can play some role in helping that become the case, I’d be absolutely delighted.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://ybca.org/event/the-world-of-black-film-screening-book-signing-7-17-26/\">The World of Black Film: ‘Compensation’ + Book Signing\u003c/a> takes place Friday, July 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission St., San Francisco). A talkback with Criterion Collection Curatorial Director, Ashley Clark and director, Zeinabu irene Davis will take place following the screening.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Bring your own copy of ‘\u003ca href=\"https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-world-of-black-film-a-journey-through-cinematic-blackness-in-100-films-with-a-foreword-by-john-akomfrah-ashley-clark/97ee234f39de4965?ean=9781529438253\">The World of Black Film\u003c/a>’ at 6 p.m. to have it signed by Ashley Clark.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ybca.ticketing.veevartapp.com/tickets/view/list/the-world-of-black-film-screening-book-signing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Deaf actress Michelle A. Banks and hearing actor John Earl Jelks play Malindy and Arthur in the 1910s (and Malaika and Nico in the 1990s), Black Americans facing racism and emerging pandemics. Davis uses inventive techniques, like silent film–era intertitles and archival images, to tell the two love stories in a way that Clark describes as “alive and beautiful and engaging.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Compensation\u003c/em> screened at festivals 27 years ago, but the film was never picked up by distributors, and therefore never released in theaters. It remained in circulation thanks to \u003ca href=\"https://www.wmm.com/\">Women Make Movies\u003c/a>, a nonprofit distributor in New York. That is, until Clark approached Davis about acquiring \u003cem>Compensation\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Now, Davis’ independent feature is finally reaching audiences en masse. \u003cem>Compensation \u003c/em>began streaming on the Criterion Channel in 2021, entered the Library of Congress’ \u003ca href=\"https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/25-films-named-to-national-film-registry-for-preservation/s/55d5285d-916f-4105-b7d4-7fc3ba8664e3\">National Film Registry\u003c/a> in 2024, was digitally restored in 4K, received its first theatrical release in 2025, and is now out in the world as a Blu-ray and DVD.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“One of our metrics of success really is looking at \u003ca href=\"https://letterboxd.com/film/compensation-1999/\">Letterboxd\u003c/a>,” Clark explains. “You can see that this film has gone from a small number of logged views to suddenly hundreds and hundreds of reviews on there from young cinephiles who are giving it four-star reviews and five-star reviews and saying, ‘Where was this film all my life?’”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Compensation\u003c/em> is just one of 100 films Clark has identified that could elicit a similar response. His book \u003ca href=\"https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-world-of-black-film-a-journey-through-cinematic-blackness-in-100-films-with-a-foreword-by-john-akomfrah-ashley-clark/97ee234f39de4965?ean=9781529438253\">\u003cem>The World of Black Film: A Journey Through Cinematic Blackness in 100 Films\u003c/em>\u003c/a> came out earlier this year. The compendium isn’t a collection of “the greatest,” Clark explains, but a series of personal arguments for significance.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Compensation\u003c/em> is just one of 100 films Clark has identified that could elicit a similar response. His book \u003ca href=\"https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-world-of-black-film-a-journey-through-cinematic-blackness-in-100-films-with-a-foreword-by-john-akomfrah-ashley-clark/97ee234f39de4965?ean=9781529438253\">\u003cem>The World of Black Film: A Journey Through Cinematic Blackness in 100 Films\u003c/em>\u003c/a> came out earlier this year. The compendium isn’t a collection of “the greatest,” Clark explains, but a series of personal arguments for significance.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark.png\" alt=\"bright green book cover with title and image of Black woman, spread of essay and film stills\" class=\"wp-image-13991538\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark.png 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark-768x432.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark-1200x675.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ashley Clark’s ‘The World of Black Film’ was published by Laurence King Publishing in February 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark.png\" alt=\"bright green book cover with title and image of Black woman, spread of essay and film stills\" class=\"wp-image-13991538\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ashley Clark’s ‘The World of Black Film’ was published by Laurence King Publishing in February 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I wanted to present something that was quite subjective and potentially contentious,” says Clark, who has Jamaican heritage, was born and raised in the U.K. and now lives in the United States. “One of the things with the book that I’m trying to gently push back against is a sort of reflexive conflation of Black film with American film.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Included in the book are Ibrahim Shaddad’s 1964 film \u003ca href=\"https://www.criterionchannel.com/hunting-party\">\u003cem>Hunting Party\u003c/em>\u003c/a> (a thesis film by a 19-year-old Sudanese filmmaker in Germany); Flora Gomes’ 1988 \u003cem>Mortu Nega\u003c/em> (the first film produced in independent Guinea-Bissau); and Jordan Peele’s 2017 breakout \u003cem>Get Out\u003c/em>. Clark’s essays are unpretentious, chatty and very personal, knitting together a chronological network of influences and ideas. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Included in the book are Ibrahim Shaddad’s 1964 film \u003ca href=\"https://www.criterionchannel.com/hunting-party\">\u003cem>Hunting Party\u003c/em>\u003c/a> (a thesis film by a 19-year-old Sudanese filmmaker in Germany); Flora Gomes’ 1988 \u003cem>Mortu Nega\u003c/em> (the first film produced in independent Guinea-Bissau); and Jordan Peele’s 2017 breakout \u003cem>Get Out\u003c/em>. Clark’s essays are unpretentious, chatty and very personal, knitting together a chronological network of influences and ideas. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The book’s films span 30 countries and 111 years. Like \u003cem>Compensation\u003c/em> before its restoration and theatrical release, not all 100 are readily available to all audiences. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The book’s films span 30 countries and 111 years. Like \u003cem>Compensation\u003c/em> before its restoration and theatrical release, not all 100 are readily available to all audiences. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>YBCA has yet to bring back \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13841205/curatorial-crisis-bay-area-art-institutions\">a full film program\u003c/a>, but cinephiles will be pleased to hear of at least one substantive series on the horizon: Clark will return this fall for a weekly program drawn from the pages of \u003cem>The World of Black Film\u003c/em>. Subtitled “Revolutions,” the Nov. 14–Dec. 19 series will focus on films from the 1960s to the early 1980s — when decolonization movements and radical politics led to greater numbers of Black filmmakers. (\u003cem>Mortu Negra\u003c/em>, recently restored, will screen Dec. 5.)\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>YBCA has yet to bring back \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13841205/curatorial-crisis-bay-area-art-institutions\">a full film program\u003c/a>, but cinephiles will be pleased to hear of at least one substantive series on the horizon: Clark will return this fall for a weekly program drawn from the pages of \u003cem>The World of Black Film\u003c/em>. Subtitled “Revolutions,” the Nov. 14–Dec. 19 series will focus on films from the 1960s to the early 1980s — when decolonization movements and radical politics led to greater numbers of Black filmmakers. (\u003cem>Mortu Negra\u003c/em>, recently restored, will screen Dec. 5.)\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I hope that everything in the book one day does become available,” Clark says. “And if my book can play some role in helping that become the case, I’d be absolutely delighted.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://ybca.org/event/the-world-of-black-film-screening-book-signing-7-17-26/\">The World of Black Film: ‘Compensation’ + Book Signing\u003c/a> takes place Friday, July 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission St., San Francisco). A talkback with Criterion Collection Curatorial Director, Ashley Clark and director, Zeinabu irene Davis will take place following the screening.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Zeinabu irene Davis’ newly restored 1999 film ‘Compensation’ screens in San Francisco on July 17.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When Ashley Clark joined the Criterion Collection as its curatorial director in 2020, he brought along a wish list of titles he hoped to acquire. One was Zeinabu irene Davis’ first narrative feature, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.criterionchannel.com/compensation\">Compensation\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, a 1999 black-and-white film about two Chicago couples who mirror each other across an expanse of decades.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s such a unique and thoughtful film about a lot of serious issues,” Clark tells KQED. “It could sound academic or forbidding, but it’s made with such a spirit of generosity.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Deaf actress Michelle A. Banks and hearing actor John Earl Jelks play Malindy and Arthur in the 1910s (and Malaika and Nico in the 1990s), Black Americans facing racism and emerging pandemics. Davis uses inventive techniques, like silent film–era intertitles and archival images, to tell the two love stories in a way that Clark describes as “alive and beautiful and engaging.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On July 17, Clark will screen \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://ybca.org/event/the-world-of-black-film-screening-book-signing-7-17-26/\">Compensation\u003c/a>\u003c/em> at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in a co-presentation with the Bay Area Video Coalition. Both Davis and Clark will be present for a conversation following the screening. The event is a rare treat that just a few years ago would have been even more of a rarity.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Compensation\u003c/em> screened at festivals 27 years ago, but the film was never picked up by distributors, and therefore never released in theaters. It remained in circulation thanks to \u003ca href=\"https://www.wmm.com/\">Women Make Movies\u003c/a>, a nonprofit distributor in New York. That is, until Clark approached Davis about acquiring \u003cem>Compensation\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Davis’ independent feature is finally reaching audiences en masse. \u003cem>Compensation \u003c/em>began streaming on the Criterion Channel in 2021, entered the Library of Congress’ \u003ca href=\"https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/25-films-named-to-national-film-registry-for-preservation/s/55d5285d-916f-4105-b7d4-7fc3ba8664e3\">National Film Registry\u003c/a> in 2024, was digitally restored in 4K, received its first theatrical release in 2025, and is now out in the world as a Blu-ray and DVD.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“One of our metrics of success really is looking at \u003ca href=\"https://letterboxd.com/film/compensation-1999/\">Letterboxd\u003c/a>,” Clark explains. “You can see that this film has gone from a small number of logged views to suddenly hundreds and hundreds of reviews on there from young cinephiles who are giving it four-star reviews and five-star reviews and saying, ‘Where was this film all my life?’”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Compensation\u003c/em> is just one of 100 films Clark has identified that could elicit a similar response. His book \u003ca href=\"https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-world-of-black-film-a-journey-through-cinematic-blackness-in-100-films-with-a-foreword-by-john-akomfrah-ashley-clark/97ee234f39de4965?ean=9781529438253\">\u003cem>The World of Black Film: A Journey Through Cinematic Blackness in 100 Films\u003c/em>\u003c/a> came out earlier this year. The compendium isn’t a collection of “the greatest,” Clark explains, but a series of personal arguments for significance.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark.png\" alt=\"bright green book cover with title and image of Black woman, spread of essay and film stills\" class=\"wp-image-13991538\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark.png 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark-768x432.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/wbf_ashley-clark-1200x675.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ashley Clark’s ‘The World of Black Film’ was published by Laurence King Publishing in February 2026. (YBCA)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I wanted to present something that was quite subjective and potentially contentious,” says Clark, who has Jamaican heritage, was born and raised in the U.K. and now lives in the United States. “One of the things with the book that I’m trying to gently push back against is a sort of reflexive conflation of Black film with American film.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Included in the book are Ibrahim Shaddad’s 1964 film \u003ca href=\"https://www.criterionchannel.com/hunting-party\">\u003cem>Hunting Party\u003c/em>\u003c/a> (a thesis film by a 19-year-old Sudanese filmmaker in Germany); Flora Gomes’ 1988 \u003cem>Mortu Nega\u003c/em> (the first film produced in independent Guinea-Bissau); and Jordan Peele’s 2017 breakout \u003cem>Get Out\u003c/em>. Clark’s essays are unpretentious, chatty and very personal, knitting together a chronological network of influences and ideas. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The book’s films span 30 countries and 111 years. Like \u003cem>Compensation\u003c/em> before its restoration and theatrical release, not all 100 are readily available to all audiences. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>YBCA has yet to bring back \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13841205/curatorial-crisis-bay-area-art-institutions\">a full film program\u003c/a>, but cinephiles will be pleased to hear of at least one substantive series on the horizon: Clark will return this fall for a weekly program drawn from the pages of \u003cem>The World of Black Film\u003c/em>. Subtitled “Revolutions,” the Nov. 14–Dec. 19 series will focus on films from the 1960s to the early 1980s — when decolonization movements and radical politics led to greater numbers of Black filmmakers. (\u003cem>Mortu Negra\u003c/em>, recently restored, will screen Dec. 5.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I hope that everything in the book one day does become available,” Clark says. “And if my book can play some role in helping that become the case, I’d be absolutely delighted.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://ybca.org/event/the-world-of-black-film-screening-book-signing-7-17-26/\">The World of Black Film: ‘Compensation’ + Book Signing\u003c/a> takes place Friday, July 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission St., San Francisco). A talkback with Criterion Collection Curatorial Director, Ashley Clark and director, Zeinabu irene Davis will take place following the screening.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Bring your own copy of ‘\u003ca href=\"https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-world-of-black-film-a-journey-through-cinematic-blackness-in-100-films-with-a-foreword-by-john-akomfrah-ashley-clark/97ee234f39de4965?ean=9781529438253\">The World of Black Film\u003c/a>’ at 6 p.m. to have it signed by Ashley Clark.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ybca.ticketing.veevartapp.com/tickets/view/list/the-world-of-black-film-screening-book-signing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "paramount-theatre-movie-classics-oakland-roxie-fraenkel-film-festival",
"title": "A Golden Age of Moviegoing Returns at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre",
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"content": "\u003cp>Two different film series on opposite sides of the Bay are partway through their runs, and both are can’t-miss affairs for different reasons.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, it’s all about the atmosphere. For the first time since 2018, \u003ca href=\"https://www.paramountoakland.org/events/movie-classics\">Paramount Movie Classics\u003c/a> are back at the beautifully restored 1930s movie palace.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The series, dedicated to 35 millimeter film, leans into the auditorium’s time-travel ambiance with movies from the past 100 years of film. Before a recent screening of \u003cem>Purple Rain\u003c/em>, starring Prince, a pipe organist played standards like “Something’s Gotta Give,” and the screen showed trailers for films like \u003cem>Casablanca\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Rear Window\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a further throwback to the golden age of Hollywood, the theater also hosted a round of “Dec-O-Win,” a spin-the-wheel game that awarded prizes from Oakland businesses to the audience, replete with a carnival-barker host and his assistants.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Prince \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/11368285/live-review-prince-alone-with-a-piano-at-the-paramount-theatre-in-oakland\">performed at the Paramount\u003c/a> just months before his death in 2016, and the sizable crowd, many dressed in purple, appeared eager resurrected his spirit. During the live performances in the film, they sang along and cheered just as if he were on the Paramount stage.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1124\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/13b669_b315bda779a54943a214a15c6ae99a89mv2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991529\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/13b669_b315bda779a54943a214a15c6ae99a89mv2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/13b669_b315bda779a54943a214a15c6ae99a89mv2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/13b669_b315bda779a54943a214a15c6ae99a89mv2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/13b669_b315bda779a54943a214a15c6ae99a89mv2-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/13b669_b315bda779a54943a214a15c6ae99a89mv2-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A scene from ‘The Maltese Falcon’ (1941), with Peter Lorre, Humphrey Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet (clockwise from top left). (Warner Bros. Pictures)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jason Blackwell, general manager of the Paramount, \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/05/08/oakland-paramount-movie-classics-relaunch/\">told Oaklandside in May\u003c/a> that this year’s relaunch will serve as a test to “gauge audience interest.” Paramount Movie Classics continue through the end of the month, with \u003cem>Mrs. Doubtfire\u003c/em> (July 10), \u003cem>The Mark of Zorro\u003c/em> (July 17) and \u003cem>The Maltese Falcon\u003c/em> (July 24).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco, it’s all about cross-pollination. The \u003ca href=\"https://fraenkelgallery.com/exhibitions/fraenkel-film-festival-2026\">Fraenkel Film Festival\u003c/a>, running through July 18, screens movies picked by visual artists associated with Fraenkel Gallery.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Now in its third year, the festival so far has featured films like the neo-horror \u003cem>Get Out\u003c/em>, chosen by interdisciplinary artist Carrie Mae Weems, and the 1950s film noir \u003cem>Pickup on South Street\u003c/em>, chosen by photographer and activist Nan Goldin.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"843\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/solaris-1972-featured-1400x590-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991530\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/solaris-1972-featured-1400x590-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/solaris-1972-featured-1400x590-1-160x67.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/solaris-1972-featured-1400x590-1-768x324.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/solaris-1972-featured-1400x590-1-1536x647.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A scene from ‘Solaris’ (1972), with (L–R) Natalya Bondarchuk and Donatas Banionis. (Mosfilm)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For those familiar with each artists’ work, the program invites deeper viewing through their eyes. What does photographer Lee Friedlander see in Hitchcock’s \u003cem>North By Northwest \u003c/em>(July 11)? Why does \u003cem>Grey Gardens\u003c/em> (July 18) resonate with artist Sophie Calle?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The upcoming lineup includes films like \u003cem>Solaris\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Klute\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Mystery Train\u003c/em>, worthy of seeing in any context. But for a film like \u003cem>Princess Mononoke \u003c/em>(July 10), one can’t help but think of the artist and actress Martine Gutierrez’s remarks that “the ethereal realm is what matters, and every day we are convinced otherwise.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.paramountoakland.org/events/movie-classics\">\u003cem>Paramount Movie Classics\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> run Fridays through July 24 at the Paramount Theatre (2025 Broadway, Oakland); \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.paramountoakland.org/events/movie-classics\">\u003cem>program and details here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. The \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://roxie.com/series/fraenkel-film-festival-2026/\">\u003cem>Fraenkel Film Festival\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> runs through Saturday, July 18 at the Roxie Theater (3125 16th Street, San Francisco); \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://roxie.com/series/fraenkel-film-festival-2026/\">\u003cem>program and details here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, it’s all about the atmosphere. For the first time since 2018, \u003ca href=\"https://www.paramountoakland.org/events/movie-classics\">Paramount Movie Classics\u003c/a> are back at the beautifully restored 1930s movie palace.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The series, dedicated to 35 millimeter film, leans into the auditorium’s time-travel ambiance with movies from the past 100 years of film. Before a recent screening of \u003cem>Purple Rain\u003c/em>, starring Prince, a pipe organist played standards like “Something’s Gotta Give,” and the screen showed trailers for films like \u003cem>Casablanca\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Rear Window\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a further throwback to the golden age of Hollywood, the theater also hosted a round of “Dec-O-Win,” a spin-the-wheel game that awarded prizes from Oakland businesses to the audience, replete with a carnival-barker host and his assistants.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Prince \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/11368285/live-review-prince-alone-with-a-piano-at-the-paramount-theatre-in-oakland\">performed at the Paramount\u003c/a> just months before his death in 2016, and the sizable crowd, many dressed in purple, appeared eager resurrected his spirit. During the live performances in the film, they sang along and cheered just as if he were on the Paramount stage.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jason Blackwell, general manager of the Paramount, \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/05/08/oakland-paramount-movie-classics-relaunch/\">told Oaklandside in May\u003c/a> that this year’s relaunch will serve as a test to “gauge audience interest.” Paramount Movie Classics continue through the end of the month, with \u003cem>Mrs. Doubtfire\u003c/em> (July 10), \u003cem>The Mark of Zorro\u003c/em> (July 17) and \u003cem>The Maltese Falcon\u003c/em> (July 24).\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco, it’s all about cross-pollination. The \u003ca href=\"https://fraenkelgallery.com/exhibitions/fraenkel-film-festival-2026\">Fraenkel Film Festival\u003c/a>, running through July 18, screens movies picked by visual artists associated with Fraenkel Gallery.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Now in its third year, the festival so far has featured films like the neo-horror \u003cem>Get Out\u003c/em>, chosen by interdisciplinary artist Carrie Mae Weems, and the 1950s film noir \u003cem>Pickup on South Street\u003c/em>, chosen by photographer and activist Nan Goldin.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For those familiar with each artists’ work, the program invites deeper viewing through their eyes. What does photographer Lee Friedlander see in Hitchcock’s \u003cem>North By Northwest \u003c/em>(July 11)? Why does \u003cem>Grey Gardens\u003c/em> (July 18) resonate with artist Sophie Calle?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The upcoming lineup includes films like \u003cem>Solaris\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Klute\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Mystery Train\u003c/em>, worthy of seeing in any context. But for a film like \u003cem>Princess Mononoke \u003c/em>(July 10), one can’t help but think of the artist and actress Martine Gutierrez’s remarks that “the ethereal realm is what matters, and every day we are convinced otherwise.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.paramountoakland.org/events/movie-classics\">\u003cem>Paramount Movie Classics\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> run Fridays through July 24 at the Paramount Theatre (2025 Broadway, Oakland); \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.paramountoakland.org/events/movie-classics\">\u003cem>program and details here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. The \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://roxie.com/series/fraenkel-film-festival-2026/\">\u003cem>Fraenkel Film Festival\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> runs through Saturday, July 18 at the Roxie Theater (3125 16th Street, San Francisco); \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://roxie.com/series/fraenkel-film-festival-2026/\">\u003cem>program and details here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"headline": "A Golden Age of Moviegoing Returns at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Two different film series on opposite sides of the Bay are partway through their runs, and both are can’t-miss affairs for different reasons.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, it’s all about the atmosphere. For the first time since 2018, \u003ca href=\"https://www.paramountoakland.org/events/movie-classics\">Paramount Movie Classics\u003c/a> are back at the beautifully restored 1930s movie palace.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The series, dedicated to 35 millimeter film, leans into the auditorium’s time-travel ambiance with movies from the past 100 years of film. Before a recent screening of \u003cem>Purple Rain\u003c/em>, starring Prince, a pipe organist played standards like “Something’s Gotta Give,” and the screen showed trailers for films like \u003cem>Casablanca\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Rear Window\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a further throwback to the golden age of Hollywood, the theater also hosted a round of “Dec-O-Win,” a spin-the-wheel game that awarded prizes from Oakland businesses to the audience, replete with a carnival-barker host and his assistants.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Prince \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/11368285/live-review-prince-alone-with-a-piano-at-the-paramount-theatre-in-oakland\">performed at the Paramount\u003c/a> just months before his death in 2016, and the sizable crowd, many dressed in purple, appeared eager resurrected his spirit. During the live performances in the film, they sang along and cheered just as if he were on the Paramount stage.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1124\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/13b669_b315bda779a54943a214a15c6ae99a89mv2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991529\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/13b669_b315bda779a54943a214a15c6ae99a89mv2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/13b669_b315bda779a54943a214a15c6ae99a89mv2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/13b669_b315bda779a54943a214a15c6ae99a89mv2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/13b669_b315bda779a54943a214a15c6ae99a89mv2-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/13b669_b315bda779a54943a214a15c6ae99a89mv2-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A scene from ‘The Maltese Falcon’ (1941), with Peter Lorre, Humphrey Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet (clockwise from top left). (Warner Bros. Pictures)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jason Blackwell, general manager of the Paramount, \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/05/08/oakland-paramount-movie-classics-relaunch/\">told Oaklandside in May\u003c/a> that this year’s relaunch will serve as a test to “gauge audience interest.” Paramount Movie Classics continue through the end of the month, with \u003cem>Mrs. Doubtfire\u003c/em> (July 10), \u003cem>The Mark of Zorro\u003c/em> (July 17) and \u003cem>The Maltese Falcon\u003c/em> (July 24).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco, it’s all about cross-pollination. The \u003ca href=\"https://fraenkelgallery.com/exhibitions/fraenkel-film-festival-2026\">Fraenkel Film Festival\u003c/a>, running through July 18, screens movies picked by visual artists associated with Fraenkel Gallery.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Now in its third year, the festival so far has featured films like the neo-horror \u003cem>Get Out\u003c/em>, chosen by interdisciplinary artist Carrie Mae Weems, and the 1950s film noir \u003cem>Pickup on South Street\u003c/em>, chosen by photographer and activist Nan Goldin.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"843\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/solaris-1972-featured-1400x590-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991530\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/solaris-1972-featured-1400x590-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/solaris-1972-featured-1400x590-1-160x67.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/solaris-1972-featured-1400x590-1-768x324.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/solaris-1972-featured-1400x590-1-1536x647.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A scene from ‘Solaris’ (1972), with (L–R) Natalya Bondarchuk and Donatas Banionis. (Mosfilm)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For those familiar with each artists’ work, the program invites deeper viewing through their eyes. What does photographer Lee Friedlander see in Hitchcock’s \u003cem>North By Northwest \u003c/em>(July 11)? Why does \u003cem>Grey Gardens\u003c/em> (July 18) resonate with artist Sophie Calle?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The upcoming lineup includes films like \u003cem>Solaris\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Klute\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Mystery Train\u003c/em>, worthy of seeing in any context. But for a film like \u003cem>Princess Mononoke \u003c/em>(July 10), one can’t help but think of the artist and actress Martine Gutierrez’s remarks that “the ethereal realm is what matters, and every day we are convinced otherwise.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.paramountoakland.org/events/movie-classics\">\u003cem>Paramount Movie Classics\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> run Fridays through July 24 at the Paramount Theatre (2025 Broadway, Oakland); \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.paramountoakland.org/events/movie-classics\">\u003cem>program and details here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. The \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://roxie.com/series/fraenkel-film-festival-2026/\">\u003cem>Fraenkel Film Festival\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> runs through Saturday, July 18 at the Roxie Theater (3125 16th Street, San Francisco); \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://roxie.com/series/fraenkel-film-festival-2026/\">\u003cem>program and details here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass’ Is Brilliantly Dumb",
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"content": "\u003cp>A little more than halfway through the extremely silly \u003cem>Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass\u003c/em>, the main character questions the very idea behind her journey, and, by extension, the movie itself. In it, Zoey Deutch’s character Gail embarks on a \u003cem>Wizard of Oz\u003c/em>-like journey from Kansas to Hollywood to even the score with her fiance and have sex with her celebrity free-pass: Jon Hamm.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Ridiculous. It’s stupid. Just an utterly pointless premise,” she says, defeated after yet another setback. “It’s like, why?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>John Slattery — playing John Slattery, or at least a sadder and more comedic version of John Slattery who hasn’t worked in a decade, who has taken up self-defense as a hobby and whose text messages to his former \u003cem>Mad Men\u003c/em> co-star go mostly unanswered — tells Deutch’s Gail that they’re too far into this thing to give up now. Indeed. This is very much the spirit of this unabashedly absurd film from director David Wain, who, with his cowriter Ken Marino concluded early on that the idea was really stupid, didn’t make sense and went nowhere. For those reasons, they said, they had to make the film.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the same way Wain’s \u003cem>Wet Hot American Summer\u003c/em> was both love letter to and send-up of the weirdness of summer camp, \u003cem>Gail Daughtry\u003c/em> takes on Hollywood and celebrity in a heightened and anarchic reality. Wide-eyed, never-left-Kansas Gail hasn’t even heard of the concept of the celebrity free pass at the start of the movie. Neither has her daffy high school sweetheart, but a few hours later, she’s shocked to find out he’s already found an occasion to use his. And thus begins her quest to find, and bang, the man who played Don Draper.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gail and her hairdresser colleague Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) pick up some companions along the way, including Marino playing a disgraced photographer whose inability to capture a candid shot of Hamm at the height of his \u003cem>Mad Men\u003c/em> fame sent him into a spiral of drugs and homelessness, and an eager but misguided aspiring agent played by Ben Wang. Gail isn’t shy about her conquest, and her new friends don’t hesitate to help. There’s also a side plot involving a briefcase mix-up and an international conspiracy to take down the global financial system — don’t worry about the details, it’s mostly to set up a ridiculously violent climax.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEbaLieo_Kw\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The movie stars are all a little on edge in this world. Henry Winkler half-gamely poses for a photo with a couple of goons, while Weird Al Yankovic is less than hospitable to the friendly intruders on his property, and Hamm’s bodyguard threatens unannounced guests with a strange promise: I’m going to make you sick.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Impressively, \u003cem>Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass\u003c/em> was shot in Los Angeles, using the Chateau Marmont, an old Western movie set and many less picturesque locations that are all filmed with an earnestly loving wink. There’s a running joke about wanting to go to Universal CityWalk, and the receptionist at their hotel in Hollywood gives them recommendations about the best coffee (Starbucks), burger (McDonald’s) and home goods slash gum collection (7-Eleven) that the Hollywood Boulevard area has to offer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The only thing this movie takes seriously is its wholehearted commitment to absurdity. No idea is too dumb to explore, sometimes twice. Even when the jokes don’t land, there is still a kind of joy in it all. When Gail and Otto arrive in Los Angeles, their taxi driver (Richard Kind) cautions them, unprompted, of the dangers of thinking one can arrive in Hollywood and become Elizabeth Perkins overnight.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While this critic may not have laughed out loud much (respectfully, it’s no \u003cem>Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar\u003c/em>), I also fully enjoyed being in this refreshingly ridiculous world for 93 minutes. More dumb comedies, please. We need them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>‘\u003cem>Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass\u003c/em>’\u003cem> is released nationwide on July 10, 2026.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Ridiculous. It’s stupid. Just an utterly pointless premise,” she says, defeated after yet another setback. “It’s like, why?”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>John Slattery — playing John Slattery, or at least a sadder and more comedic version of John Slattery who hasn’t worked in a decade, who has taken up self-defense as a hobby and whose text messages to his former \u003cem>Mad Men\u003c/em> co-star go mostly unanswered — tells Deutch’s Gail that they’re too far into this thing to give up now. Indeed. This is very much the spirit of this unabashedly absurd film from director David Wain, who, with his cowriter Ken Marino concluded early on that the idea was really stupid, didn’t make sense and went nowhere. For those reasons, they said, they had to make the film.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the same way Wain’s \u003cem>Wet Hot American Summer\u003c/em> was both love letter to and send-up of the weirdness of summer camp, \u003cem>Gail Daughtry\u003c/em> takes on Hollywood and celebrity in a heightened and anarchic reality. Wide-eyed, never-left-Kansas Gail hasn’t even heard of the concept of the celebrity free pass at the start of the movie. Neither has her daffy high school sweetheart, but a few hours later, she’s shocked to find out he’s already found an occasion to use his. And thus begins her quest to find, and bang, the man who played Don Draper.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Gail and her hairdresser colleague Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) pick up some companions along the way, including Marino playing a disgraced photographer whose inability to capture a candid shot of Hamm at the height of his \u003cem>Mad Men\u003c/em> fame sent him into a spiral of drugs and homelessness, and an eager but misguided aspiring agent played by Ben Wang. Gail isn’t shy about her conquest, and her new friends don’t hesitate to help. There’s also a side plot involving a briefcase mix-up and an international conspiracy to take down the global financial system — don’t worry about the details, it’s mostly to set up a ridiculously violent climax.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The movie stars are all a little on edge in this world. Henry Winkler half-gamely poses for a photo with a couple of goons, while Weird Al Yankovic is less than hospitable to the friendly intruders on his property, and Hamm’s bodyguard threatens unannounced guests with a strange promise: I’m going to make you sick.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Impressively, \u003cem>Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass\u003c/em> was shot in Los Angeles, using the Chateau Marmont, an old Western movie set and many less picturesque locations that are all filmed with an earnestly loving wink. There’s a running joke about wanting to go to Universal CityWalk, and the receptionist at their hotel in Hollywood gives them recommendations about the best coffee (Starbucks), burger (McDonald’s) and home goods slash gum collection (7-Eleven) that the Hollywood Boulevard area has to offer.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The only thing this movie takes seriously is its wholehearted commitment to absurdity. No idea is too dumb to explore, sometimes twice. Even when the jokes don’t land, there is still a kind of joy in it all. When Gail and Otto arrive in Los Angeles, their taxi driver (Richard Kind) cautions them, unprompted, of the dangers of thinking one can arrive in Hollywood and become Elizabeth Perkins overnight.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>While this critic may not have laughed out loud much (respectfully, it’s no \u003cem>Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar\u003c/em>), I also fully enjoyed being in this refreshingly ridiculous world for 93 minutes. More dumb comedies, please. We need them.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>‘\u003cem>Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass\u003c/em>’\u003cem> is released nationwide on July 10, 2026.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A little more than halfway through the extremely silly \u003cem>Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass\u003c/em>, the main character questions the very idea behind her journey, and, by extension, the movie itself. In it, Zoey Deutch’s character Gail embarks on a \u003cem>Wizard of Oz\u003c/em>-like journey from Kansas to Hollywood to even the score with her fiance and have sex with her celebrity free-pass: Jon Hamm.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Ridiculous. It’s stupid. Just an utterly pointless premise,” she says, defeated after yet another setback. “It’s like, why?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>John Slattery — playing John Slattery, or at least a sadder and more comedic version of John Slattery who hasn’t worked in a decade, who has taken up self-defense as a hobby and whose text messages to his former \u003cem>Mad Men\u003c/em> co-star go mostly unanswered — tells Deutch’s Gail that they’re too far into this thing to give up now. Indeed. This is very much the spirit of this unabashedly absurd film from director David Wain, who, with his cowriter Ken Marino concluded early on that the idea was really stupid, didn’t make sense and went nowhere. For those reasons, they said, they had to make the film.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the same way Wain’s \u003cem>Wet Hot American Summer\u003c/em> was both love letter to and send-up of the weirdness of summer camp, \u003cem>Gail Daughtry\u003c/em> takes on Hollywood and celebrity in a heightened and anarchic reality. Wide-eyed, never-left-Kansas Gail hasn’t even heard of the concept of the celebrity free pass at the start of the movie. Neither has her daffy high school sweetheart, but a few hours later, she’s shocked to find out he’s already found an occasion to use his. And thus begins her quest to find, and bang, the man who played Don Draper.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gail and her hairdresser colleague Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) pick up some companions along the way, including Marino playing a disgraced photographer whose inability to capture a candid shot of Hamm at the height of his \u003cem>Mad Men\u003c/em> fame sent him into a spiral of drugs and homelessness, and an eager but misguided aspiring agent played by Ben Wang. Gail isn’t shy about her conquest, and her new friends don’t hesitate to help. There’s also a side plot involving a briefcase mix-up and an international conspiracy to take down the global financial system — don’t worry about the details, it’s mostly to set up a ridiculously violent climax.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/GEbaLieo_Kw'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/GEbaLieo_Kw'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The movie stars are all a little on edge in this world. Henry Winkler half-gamely poses for a photo with a couple of goons, while Weird Al Yankovic is less than hospitable to the friendly intruders on his property, and Hamm’s bodyguard threatens unannounced guests with a strange promise: I’m going to make you sick.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Impressively, \u003cem>Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass\u003c/em> was shot in Los Angeles, using the Chateau Marmont, an old Western movie set and many less picturesque locations that are all filmed with an earnestly loving wink. There’s a running joke about wanting to go to Universal CityWalk, and the receptionist at their hotel in Hollywood gives them recommendations about the best coffee (Starbucks), burger (McDonald’s) and home goods slash gum collection (7-Eleven) that the Hollywood Boulevard area has to offer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The only thing this movie takes seriously is its wholehearted commitment to absurdity. No idea is too dumb to explore, sometimes twice. Even when the jokes don’t land, there is still a kind of joy in it all. When Gail and Otto arrive in Los Angeles, their taxi driver (Richard Kind) cautions them, unprompted, of the dangers of thinking one can arrive in Hollywood and become Elizabeth Perkins overnight.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While this critic may not have laughed out loud much (respectfully, it’s no \u003cem>Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar\u003c/em>), I also fully enjoyed being in this refreshingly ridiculous world for 93 minutes. More dumb comedies, please. We need them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>‘\u003cem>Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass\u003c/em>’\u003cem> is released nationwide on July 10, 2026.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"marketplace": {
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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"planet-money": {
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
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"politicalbreakdown": {
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"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 16
},
"link": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
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},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
"title": "Science Friday",
"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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},
"snap-judgment": {
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