Hiatus Picks the Week’s Best Bets
“Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead”
La Jolla Village Cinemas / Now Playing
Legendary filmmaker Sidney Lumet is called the “actor’s
director,” known for breathtaking character pieces with a New Yorker’s grit,
like “Dog Day Afternoon” or “Network” in the 1970s. Now, the director returns
with one of his most acclaimed films — Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke
play strapped-for-cash brothers (the resemblance is uncanny, eh?) who plot to
rob their parents’ jewelry store. Naturally, everything goes wrong. Boasting an
Oscar-buzzed cast, Lumet’s film reminds us where he’s been the last few decades
and gifts a new generation with a thoughtful suspense-thriller to call their
own. (CM)
José Gonzáléz
Belly up Tavern / Nov. 26 / 9 p.m. / $18
José Gonzáléz makes no grand entrances — only what he can
announce by way of delicate guitar picks and crooning vocals, ad nauseum. To
his credit, he does give a charismatic first impression as one of Sweden’s
finest folk-poppers — part of a curiously expanding genre whose musical history
casually ties songwriters as classic as Simon & Garfunkel with composers as
distinctly present as Yo La Tengo.
Gonzalez may not inspire, but he can certainly hypnotize.
His airy voice, coupled with gentle, hooked melodies, evokes moments of
self-imposed exile or daily daze-walking through the streets of our home city.
His is the best kind of background music — each note dropped gently as a snowflake with
unabashed pseudo-intelligence. (JG)
This Week’s On-Campus Events
“The simpsons Movie”
Price Center Theater
Nov. 15, 6 & 9 p.m.
$3
Chloe Day
Porter’s Pub
Nov. 16, 12 p.m.
FREE
XBXRX & More
Che Cafe
Nov. 17, 8 p.m.
$6
“the skin of
our teeth”
Potiker Theater
Nov. 19, 8 p.m.
$12
Scarle symphony, The prayers & more
Che Cafe
Nov.. 24, 8:30 p.m.
$5
“medea”
Mandell Weiss Forum
Nov. 26, 8 p.m.
$12
“The RoOT of
all evil”
Che Cafe
Nov. 27, 8 p.m.
FREE
Rocky Votolato
Porter’s Pub
Nov. 28, 8 p.m.
FREE
7 generations, Die Young & Shallow Breathing
Che Cafe
Oct. 2, 9 p.m.
$5
