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A Taste of Peru in Bernal Heights
If you're not familiar with Bernal, just take Mission south past 30th Street, hang a left on Cortland, and you'll find yourself in this quaint, hilly neighborhood in no time. Open since March 2007 to critical consumer reviews noting frustrating service and high prices, Piqueo's -- with its zesty contemporary Peruvian food and homey atmosphere -- is now winning over a loyal neighborhood following and attracting foodies from across town.
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Bi-Coastal Curious
It's been a journey full of ups and downs for New York garage rockers The Mooney Suzuki, but the band made it to the 10-year mark, despite a steady shuffle of members --Sammy James Jr. (lead vocals/rhythm guitar) and Graham Tyler (lead guitar/vocals) are the only remaining founding members. The group returns to San Francisco for a June 29th show at the Rickshaw Stop following the release of its fourth LP Have Mercy.
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A Monthly Preview of the Best Shows
As we head deeper into our version of summer, July heats up with an amazing line-up of bands from around the world that are coming through the Bay Area for outdoors shows and festivals. Most notably, the Stern Grove Festival turns 70 this year and continues to innovate with bhangra, Brazilian funk and preservation hall jazz for a free series of amazing Sunday afternoons.
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SF Station Blows It Up
Last Saturday night 700 lucky guests got to experience a very intimate view of one of the world's most infamous prisons thanks to Scion without doing anything wrong. The event of a lifetime was held on the legendary Alcatraz with live performances by Chicago's Cool Kids, a fashion show presented by Look Models with Bahar Shapar [NYC], Del Forte [LA], performances by San Francisco's Vau De Vire Society, and the first ever Alcatraz art installation with Sam Flores, Greg 'P-Nut' Galinsky, Romanowski, Ferris Plock, Maunuel 'Gonzo' Gonzales, Paul Hayes, Adam 5100, and Noel Spirandelli [NYC] that will remain on the island for weeks to come.
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Poignant, Heartbreaking Docudrama
Directed by Michael Winterbottom (Tristram Shandy, The Road to Guantanamo, 9 Songs) and adapted by John Orloff, A Mighty Heart methodically chronicles the desperate, eventually futile, search for Daniel Pearl, an investigative journalist for the Wall Street Journal who was kidnapped by a militant group in Karachi, Pakistan on January 23, 2002. On February 1st, the militants executed Pearl, his death videotaped and distributed to Pakistani and American officials more than a week later.
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Steve Carell Keeps a Sinking Boat Afloat
Four years ago, Bruce Almighty, a "high concept" comedy starring Jim Carrey as a temporary stand-in for the omnipotent creator, grossed more than $240 million dollars stateside. With numbers like that, a sequel was inevitable, but with a seemingly exhausted premise, the producers faced a quandary: where to go next? Ultimately, they decided to take Steve Carell's character from Bruce Almighty, Evan Baxter, and turn him into the lead character of the sequel titled, appropriately enough, Evan Almighty.
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A Waking Nightmare
During his recent stint as a guest columnist for Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King has made little secret of his fondness for "Lost", the ABC drama that pits the survivors of a plane crash against supernatural forces that are at once thrilling and supremely confounding. This should come as no surprise to fans of King's stories -- he has always been fascinated by the mysteries of life, the extraordinary phenomena that can't be explained away with logic or reason, and he has spent his career translating that wonder into tales of the merrily macabre.
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Contrived Hitman Comedy/Drama
In the early 90s, John Dahl made a rep for himself by directing modestly budgeted neo-noirs, including Kill Me Again, Red Rock West, and Rounders. Dahl is back working on familiar genre ground with You Kill Me, a contrived comedy/drama about an angst-ridden hitman that's long on predictability and short on laughs.
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Standout, Thought-Provoking Drama
Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, Stephanie Daley, writer/director Hilary Brougher's second feature-length film examines two women, opposites in age, experiences, beliefs, and desires, and the life-altering decisions surrounding pregnancy and childbirth. Never polemical or heavy-handed, and often insightful and thought-provoking, Stephanie Daley is also never less than absorbing throughout its brief ninety-minute running time, thanks in large part to standout performances by Tilda Swinton and Amber Tamblyn in the lead roles.
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All the Comforts of Home
No two visits to Aldea, a hip home furnishings store in the Mission, are apt to be the same. Well, there may be one thing: you are bound to find something that tickles your fancy and may leave the sensory-rich experience with an inspiration for redesigning your home. Store proprietor Johanna Bialkin moved to San Francisco from New York inspired by a project where interior designers and architects redesigned an apartment every six months, and the results are fresh and dazzling.
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The Art of Reverse Engineering
What do disassembled wireless presenters, oscilloscopes, graphical representations of ones and zeroes, and destroyed muscle cars have in common? Reverse Engineering was probably not the first common thread to come to mind, but this theme is intriguingly explored in the fourth installation to grace the white walls of 20 goto10 gallery in Nob Hill. Spanning two long walls, this exhibit features the work of two local artists: Luis Miras and Spencer Mack.
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