Last week, Disney’s “Mary Poppins” musical premiered at San Francisco’s Orpheum Theatre. The Daily Californian spoke with Madeline Trumble — a native of Berkeley and the star of the touring production — about growing up in the Bay Area, the struggles of working on a touring show and the magic Read More…
Near the middle of director Olivier Assayas’ new film, “Something in the Air,” we are treated to a film screening in Italy. The year is 1971, three years after the turbulent unrest of the French May 1968 protests. The movement, which was begun by university students, has broadened. In this Read More…
Some kind of congratulations should be in order for Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of “The Great Gatsby.” Somehow, Luhrmann has managed to turn F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic 1920s novel of wealth, excess and the death of the American Dream into something I never thought possible — dull. Yes, despite the extravagant Read More…
When Carlos Noreña entered UC Berkeley as a freshman in 1988, he, like so many university students, “came armed with a large, boxy Apple Macintosh computer.” As students, the computer is our lifeline, our bread and butter, the indispensable utility belt to our Batman. But, for Noreña, the situation was Read More…
Like most people of my generation, I found the answer to my current predicament summed up in a series of 30 beautiful GIFs on Buzzfeed.com. The author’s name was Jessica. My name is Jessica. Ryan Gosling was there. I love Ryan Gosling. And the article was called “What Grad School Read More…
Taming the trouser snake, frosting the pie, unlocking the chamber of secrets, battling the purple-headed yogurt slinger — we all know what these phrases really mean. It’s been around since human beings first realized hands could be useful for something other than high-fiving and biting one’s thumb in insult. Read More…
A woman clapped. That was it. It wasn’t loud. This wasn’t the rapturous thrashing of hands found at sporting events or my favorite restaurant, Medieval Times. No, hers was a subtler act. It was quiet, it was proud and it was in a movie theater — a behavior far from Read More…
Much Ado About Nothing When one thinks of Shakespeare, the mind doesn’t naturally bend toward the sci-fi/supernatural wunderkind Joss Whedon. Known primarily for his forays into television (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Firefly”) and recent comic book box-office success with “The Avengers,” it seemed a slight surprise when it was announced Read More…
What would happen if you decided to eat a page of Mary Roach’s new book “Gulp”? First, you would garner the befuddled stares of your peers, an onlooker would definitely question whether he was in fact dreaming or not, but then the rudimentary biological processes would begin. A potent cocktail Read More…
If you know Patti Lupone, you know she’s not someone to be messed with. For more than 30 years, this diva has ruled Broadway with an iron-clad grasp and a voice that says, “Fuck you, I’m amazing,” with every soaring note. Even as a child, Ben Rimalower could sense this Read More…
