Beijing Coma: A Novel
Mainland China is an enormous country. With 9.6 million square kilometers it is the third largest country in the world …
Category Archives: Essays
Mexico, Tropic of Cancer
Sayulita, a small town in Mexico, with a small wonderful stretch of protected Pacific beach and small waves for small …
The Greatest Show on Earth: Richard Dawkins
I’ve just finished a several week virtual book club with a friend in Colorado. We both downloaded and listened while …
Ajami: A Film: Open Your Eyes
Depending on your movie and story sense, Ajami, co-directed by Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew and Scandar Copti an Israeli …
Crazy Heart: A Film
Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhal turn in very nice performances in Crazy Heart, another of so many movies/stories of American …
White Ribbon: A Film: Is There a Who in the Whodunit?
I was glad to read after seeing Michael Haneke’s new film, White Ribbon, that the crowd at the Cannes’ premier, …
Avatar: The Movie
Avatar, the technically amazing, richly conceived and executed movie, will not be to everyone’s taste. It is tasty enough, however, …
The Secret Life of Words: A Film
In The Secret Life of Words, one of the best films you’ve never heard of, Spanish director Isabel Coixet, guides …
Gardens of Stone: A Film
For some, Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979) is the best film made about the Vietnam War: for some it …
The Road — Taken
Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, translated into film, opened in scattered theaters this week. In the Bay Area only two houses …
Darwin’s Influence on Western Thought
In honor of the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species, last Tuesday, November 24, Scientific American …
The Burmese Harp: Fires on the Plain: Two Films
When Kon Ichikawa‘s name is mentioned, ears don’t perk up in recognition. Even if “film maker” is added as …