Film Review: ‘Three Identical Strangers’

An eerie sense of discomfort and anxiety begins to arise roughly halfway through the remarkable, entertaining, gripping, and disturbing new documentary ‘Three Identical Strangers.’ Once it starts, it only builds, continuing till long after the credits roll. Directed by Tim Wardle (“One Killer Punch”), this surprise hit (from CNN Films and England’s Channel 4) related…

‘Levity,’ a touring circus-themed show, comes to Petaluma

High-flying aerial acts. Breathtaking acrobatics. Gorgeous, ethereal music. Mesmerizing dance. A woman walking on glass bottles. And a whole lot of outrageous stuff with chairs. That’s “Levity,” a weirdly wondrous, tough-to-explain live touring show from LadyBeast Productions, of New Orleans. The company was formed five years ago, with the intention of putting a contemporary, highly…

Novato Theater Co. announces two-night appearance of Cash & King

On Friday and Saturday, July 13 and 14, Novato Theater Company will host the popular Sonoma County-based touring show Cash & King, featuring singer-actor Steven Kent and a band of local musicians putting a highly personal spin on the traditional tribute show. During the two-act production – which has been playing to sold-out houses in…

Review: “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”

The first dinosaur movie I ever remember seeing was Irwin Allen’s ‘The Lost World.’ I was five-years-old when I saw it at the Grove Theater in downtown Upland, in Southern California. From watching that film – about an expedition to a remote jungle where dinosaurs still exist – I learned a number of things. I…

Talking Pictures: Grotesquely Awesome

Called the most frightening movie to hit theaters in years, Hereditary, from first-time director Ari Aster, has not only thrilled film critics and unsettled millions of moviegoers, it’s accomplished a feat that, with very few exceptions, few modern horror stories are able to achieve: it’s given nightmares to those whose profession is scaring people. “I…

‘Coco’ to screen on Angel Island

The Mill Valley Film Festival will be teaming up with the Angel Island Conservancy to present an open-air, early-evening screening of Pixar’s magical ‘Coco’ on Angel Island on Saturday, July 21. A fundraiser for the Conservancy – which assists in facilitating various upgrades to Angel Island, a National Park, and which also sponsors a scholarship…

Pet-a-Llama Comedy Festival to Launch This August in Petaluma

Petaluma already has its own film festival, beer festival, art and garden festival, spoken word festival (keep reading), and even its own festival dedicated to a popular 70s movie about the 1960s. Now, thanks to Dominic Del Bene and his Petaluma-based record label and production company Blonde Medicine, our little town will be getting a…

Interview: Craig Miller on leaving 6th Street Playhouse

After seven years in Santa Rosa—making him the longest-serving artistic director in the company’s 13-year history—Miller has accepted a job at the University of Idaho, where he’ll become an assistant professor of acting and directing, beginning this fall. Miller will officially depart 6th Street on July 13. “Because of my in-the-trenches, real-world work as a…