S1: It's time for Midday Edition on Kpbs. Today we are talking about arts and culture around San Diego , plus how to make friends and movies to be thankful for. I'm Jade Hindman. Here's to conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. A new exhibit displays the art of food.
S2: I love food that's in books or movies and songs as a backdrop. As much as I love like really intentional art about food , like food writing or food shows. And this exhibit is one of those things where the art is very intentionally about food.
S1: Plus , research shows human connection is good for our health. So we'll talk about maintaining friendships. And our movie critics talk about the movies they're thankful for. That's ahead on Midday Edition. For our weekend preview , we have some visual art about food , some holiday light scape installations , and all girl punk rock band and a cult classic film screening. Joining me with all the details is Kpbs Arts producer and editor Julia Dixon Evans. Julia , welcome.
S2: Hi , Jade. Thanks for having me.
S1: Glad to have you here. So let's start with some music. The Linda Lindas are an all girl , all teen punk rock band out of Los Angeles , and they're playing at the Observatory on Sunday.
S2: It was their song racist , Sexist Boys , and it was part of the the library's Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month program. And the song went absolutely viral.
S3: A little while before we went into lockdown of why my class came up to me and said that his dad told him to stay away from Chinese people. After I told him that I was Chinese , he backed away from me. Eloisa and I wrote the song based on that experience. So this is about him and all the other racist , sexist boys in this world. One.
UU: One. Damn. Damn. You are a great. A boy and. Yeah. Maybe they don't like it. Go. And here I pray.
S2: And The Linda Lindas also returned to the public library to film their NPR Tiny Home Desk concert , which is also definitely worth checking out. And their first album came out last year. It's called Growing Up , and this is the title track.
UU: We can't. I will never cave on. I never wavered. And will always be called braver and braver. Nobody's there will dance what that means. We'll talk about. We shall. To be young and grow.
S2: They'll play at the Observatory Sunday night with Illuminati hotties. It's an all ages show , and the doors open at seven and the show starts at eight.
S1: Sounds like it'll be a really fun show. Let's switch gears a bit and talk about food. Or at least art that is about food. So tell us what you know about this new exhibit at Mesa College Art Gallery.
S2: Yeah , it's called Casita. It's an exhibit about food. And I personally love the way that food is this universal lure , especially when it pops up in art. I love food that's in books or movies and songs as a backdrop. As much as I love , like , really intentional art about food , like food writing or food shows. And this exhibit is one of those things where the art is very intentionally about food. And as always , these exhibits at Mesa College Art Gallery , they're designed , curated and installed by the students in their museum Studies program. And the art in this exhibit ranges from sculptures , paintings , even edible sculptures and performance art about food. Some of the artists are Maggie Shen , Adele Guerrero , Cole Douglas , and more. There's 40 artists in total. There's a reception tonight , Thursday from 4 to 7 , but it's also going to be on view through December 14th. They'll have regular gallery hours Monday through Thursday from noon to five. And there's also a big parking lot. It's lot one , and they have pay stations and that's right next to the art gallery. But if you do go on the night of the reception , parking is free.
S1: Well , that sounds interesting. And that's not all. There's more , right ? Right.
S2: So while we're still on visual art , there's a show that is still on view at Bread and Salt. It's this huge group show called The Last Group Show , and there are hundreds of artists involved , hundreds and hundreds of works of art. They're crowded on the walls. It is quite a sight. And while you're there on view at Quint one , which is also inside Bread and Salt , is the single work of art by the iconic artist Robert Irwin , who was part of the Light and Space movement , and he just passed away last month. That work is called Blue Lou two , and it's this series of vertical fluorescent bulbs wrapped in colors. It's a beautiful display of light , color and shadow. Wow.
S1: Wow. Those are both interesting options for visual art. Also , one contemporary dance company will take the stage for their annual fall showcase.
S2: And there's also some newcomers , as well as work by Litvak dance founder and artistic director Sadie Weinberg. And the other thing to know about the show is that the company Live Back Dance. They have been performing regularly since 2018. They're going on a performance hiatus after this weekend's shows , so Weinberg had said that she wants to step back and take stock , not just what the company has done in these past years , but where they're going in the future , but definitely a promise to return. So definitely don't miss these performances. There are four shows throughout the weekend , 4:00 and 7:00 on Saturday and two and 5 p.m. on Sunday , and these will be at the Sandy Diego Academy. That's in and seniors.
S1: And tonight , local theater company Backyard Renaissance will open a production of a Pulitzer Prize winning play. Right.
S2: And it's about math. This is David Orban's play , proof , which won the Pulitzer and the Tony in 2001 for best play. It follows this young mathematician. Her name is Katherine , who she's troubled , and she spent the last couple of years caring for her , her genius mathematician father , who who had recently passed away and in the mess that he left behind. There's some notes about a new proof , a mathematical proof. And Katherine , who has spent her life kind of in her father's shadow. She has to work with one of her father's PhD students who she's falling in love with to kind of finish that work. And this show is at 10th Avenue Arts Center in East Village downtown , and it's on stage tonight through December 9th.
S1: And it's also the closing weekend of the California Festival of New Music.
S2: There's cellist Alisa Weilerstein , she's playing an installment of her long range project. It's called fragments. That's at the La Jolla music society. And.
S4: And.
S2: So this is a project that she has commissioned 27 new compositions to kind of intertwine and perform alongside all 36 movements of box solo cello works. And this , this performance is is an installment of that. And then on Friday night at Bread and Salt , the inset trio will perform and they are focusing on the medium of the cassette tape. There's also a couple of big performances at the shell from the San Diego Symphony. That's Friday and Saturday night. They'll have some newly commissioned music alongside Stravinsky's Rite of Spring , which was shocking when it was first premiered. And Art of Elan will hold a special. It's a conversation and performance with artist Daniel Dean at the Institute of Contemporary Art , their North campus in Encinitas. So that's not only a great opportunity to catch some music , but it's also a chance to check out Daniel Dean's exhibit. And there's a ton more. There's mainly Mozart Camerata , Young Artists in Harmony , more from Project Blanc and the Housman Quartet. They're all going to round out the weekend in this pretty impressive California festival.
S1: All right. And there's a very special screening of attack of the Killer Tomatoes on Saturday.
S2: The plot is basically the tomatoes become sentient and start eating people. There's this also the resulting government plot to to try to infiltrate and stop the tomatoes. It's incredible. This will be screened on Saturday night at Mopar as part of San Diego Film Week , which is wrapping up this weekend , and our own Kpbs film critic Beth Accomando will moderate a Q&A with the filmmakers after the screening , before there's a reception and an award ceremony for San Diego Film Week at 530. And then the screening will actually begin at 730.
S1: All right. Sounds like a great event. Finally , we have our first holiday themed event on the list. The San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas kicks off their annual light scape this week.
S2: And these installations , they're site specific and they often play into the nature , the trees and the plants around , around the lights. There's a set of lights that look like poppies or trees that are completely outlined with light. And of course , there's some good like photo backdrops , like this huge light tunnel that you can walk inside. There's also a concession stand where you can get snacks or dinner and some festive treats. There's hot chocolate or hot toddies , so it opens on Friday , and then after that it's on view Wednesdays through Sundays , running through January 1st. But it is closed on Thanksgiving Day , December 24th and December 25th. And tickets do tend to sell out for these , so plan ahead.
S1: All right. You can sign up for Julia's weekly Kpbs Arts newsletter at PBS.org. Smarts. There you can find details on these and much more Arts events. I've been speaking with Kpbs Arts producer and editor Julia Dixon Evans. Julia. Thank you , thank you. Jade.
S2: Jade.
S1: Still ahead , the art of making new friends and maintaining relationships.
S5: Find a group of people who are already doing something that you really care about or passionate about , or curious about , interested in , and then join their thing.
S1: You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. Welcome back to midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. Thanksgiving is just around the corner , so we decided to call on our midday movies critics to discuss some films to be thankful for. Joining us again are Kpbs Cinema Junkie , Beth Accomando. Beth , welcome. Thank you. And movie Wallace Yazdi. Potala Yazdi. Welcome.
S6: Thank you. Jade.
S1: We have talked about films to be thankful for in the past. So before we discuss the particular films you've selected , tell us what you're looking for in your choices today. Beth.
S7: Beth. Well , I decided that since there is a new Japanese Godzilla movie coming out at the end of the month , minus one , and there is going to be a new series based off of the American Godzilla movies that's going to start streaming and tapping into the MonsterVerse. I decided I wanted to look at monster movies that I am thankful for. So I love a good creature feature , and I'm very grateful for what monsters offer in terms of the awe and wonder and fear and even social commentary that they can offer.
S1: All right. And Yazdi , you know , we know you have trouble limiting your picks.
S6: One is I picked movies that were released this year , which kind of went under the radar and need more championing , and these were also films that kind of made me ponder about things that I hadn't previously thought about , and I'm certainly thankful for both of those things. Yazdi.
S1: Yazdi. Your picks deal with relationships , but in very different ways. Your first pick presents what you could describe as a very unusual love triangle , right ? Yes.
S6: So Past Lives , which is from first time director Celine Song , is definitely a very different take on the relationships or romantic movies genre. The film essentially examines two characters at three different points in their life. Initially , when the boy and the girl are little kids growing up together in Seoul , Korea , and the second time after her family has immigrated to North America , and they are only able to contact with each other through social media. And then one last time , another ten years later when she's already happily married in New York , and he finally has the ability to come visit her in New York. And here's a quick scene from past lives.
S8: Here's just this kid in my head for such a long time. And then he was just this image on my laptop , and now he is a physical person. It's really intense , but I don't think that that's attraction. I think I just missed him a lot. I think I missed Seoul.
S9:
S8: He knew a long time ago.
S9: You cry baby. Yeah.
S10: Yeah.
S8: Most of the time , you'd have to just stand there and watch me.
S6: And the film is about so many things. But mostly it's about what might have been , about what we leave behind when we immigrate. Being an immigrant myself , this really resonated for me because you kind of leave a portion of yourself behind when you immigrate and when you build a new life in another country , you kind of form a different version of yourself and everybody you interact with people , your friends , your spouse only know that version of you. Whereas when somebody else from your past life comes visits you , they know that older version of you. And how do you reconcile the two ? So it's a very unsentimental , gentle look at , you know , how we reconcile different versions of ourselves and it's so wonderfully , wistfully , achingly well made. I just have tremendous love for this film. And the film is streaming and available for video rental. If folks want to check it out.
S1: All right. And Beth , you mentioned Godzilla , but he's appeared in dozens of movies over seven decades.
S7: Part of the reason is this is the first one. This was the one that introduced people to this creature that was created out of a radioactive blast. This came after the US had dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. So it had a very strong kind of social commentary going on , and it introduced the world to what I think is one of the most iconic monsters ever. I think Gojira is the most appropriate film to watch right before minus one. Minus one is not a direct sequel to any of the Godzilla films , but it is set after World War Two. There's even a kamikaze pilot who's one of the characters. And again , this is in the aftermath of the US dropping two atomic bombs on the country. So Gojira is a film that taps into similar thematic threads , and I think will be really nice to watch in advance of that. Plus , Gojira has a really special place in my heart because he rose out of so much pain and suffering and anger , as well as out of this really bold and imaginative creativity to create this creature. There is a suit actor. These are the people who put on these big rubber suits. And back in that first film , I think the suit weighed more than the actor did. It was like £200 and that was Haru Nakajima , and he gave us a Godzilla that had such a vivid personality that he was magnetic and that character would morph over the years. Sometimes Godzilla was the monster that destroyed everything. Sometimes he was the defender of the planet , and I love the fact that he could morph and change like that. But it all starts here with Gojira , and I am forever grateful to the team of director Ishiro Honda , special effects genius Supriya , and Dr. Nakajima for giving us this magnificent monster.
S1: Well , for a dramatic change of scale , we go from Godzilla to Yazdi. Next , pick a very human scaled relationship comedy.
S6: Yes , yes , my second pick , Jade , is the film You Hurt My Feelings , which stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tobias Menzies. And it asks the question as to what is our responsibility to our friends , to our spouses , to our family members ? Is it to be truthful or is it to be supportive ? You would say ideally , both. But sometimes being truthful is completely at odds with being supportive. And here's a scene from the film where Julia Louis-Dreyfus character discovers that her husband has not been entirely honest about his opinion of her new book.
S11: He doesn't love your book , okay ? He doesn't love your book. I mean , who cares ? Do you understand ? I've been working on this book for two years , right ? I've given him like a million drafts to read , and every time he reads it , every single time he tells me how much he loves it. Every single time , because he just doesn't like , you know , get it or whatever. And now my hands have gone numb. Yeah. It's real. Okay. Can you take a deep breath ? I am grieving , Sarah. All right ? You just. You're going to talk to him. Well , that's a joke. I am never going to be able to look him in the face ever again.
S6: And that single event kind of breaks the trust between them and results in an implosion of their marriage. You know , the movie takes this one premise and examines all the characters and the periphery of this couple and ultimately is very kind. And looking at , you know , what we do with our best interests at heart.
S1:
S6: And sometimes it's necessary to do that.
S1: You Hurt My Feelings segues nicely into your next pick , Beth , since both are set in New York City. Yes.
S7: Yes. So I am going to one of my all time favorites , and my next monster movie to be thankful for is King Kong , and this is the original one from 1933 , and it was created through breathtaking stop motion animation to create King Kong. And that's part of the reason why I fell in love with it. And the animation was done by Willis O'Brien. And here's a scene where Robert Armstrong's Carl Denham is introducing King Kong to New York.
S12: And now , ladies and gentlemen , before I tell you anymore , I'm going to show you the greatest thing your eyes have ever beheld. He was a king and a god in the world he knew. But now he comes to civilization merely a captive , a show to gratify your curiosity. Ladies and gentlemen , look at Kong , the eighth wonder of the world.
S7: So King Kong is a film which my love for. It is not just about the movie , it's also about my memories of watching the film , because this is a film that my dad introduced me to. He's the one who endowed me with this love of movies my entire life , and so I can't think of King Kong without thinking about him. And he loved Kong. He sympathized with the monster. And I think because of that , it took me decades to realize that the reason I hated Fay Wray was because her character was responsible for Kong's death. In my eyes , if she had just stayed in his hand or by his foot , the planes would not have come and shot him. And so it took me a long time to appreciate her as an actress , and not to just have this bias against her for killing Kong. So I love King Kong , and he's just such a magnificent beast and it's so tragic at the end. This is one film I'm not a crier at movies , but I will cry at the end of King Kong no matter what. It breaks my heart and I'm grateful for this film , and I'm really grateful for the fact that every time I watch it , not only do I get to fall in love all over again with King Kong , but it brings back these really warm , wonderful memories of watching movies with my dad. Oh.
S1: Oh. That's nice. All right , well , Yazdi , we've got a distinct change of tone for your last pick , which is currently in theaters. Anatomy of a fall. Yes.
S6: Yes. Anatomy of a fall is a French production. It won the top prize at Cannes this year. And by Jove , they got it right. This is a film which examines a situation where a husband , wife and their visually impaired son are living in a chalet in Switzerland , and the husband falls to his death from the top level of the chalet. And the entire movie is an investigation into what led to his fall. Did he commit suicide ? Or perhaps , was he pushed ? And who might have done that ? And so the movie is a whodunit. It's a courtroom procedural. And as the movie advances , you realize it's less a procedural about who killed him than a procedural about the state of their marriage. And here's a scene from the film that sets up the premise of the wife becoming one of the prime suspects.
S13: So , as you can see , an accidental fall is going to be hard to defend given the height of the window sill. So that's why there's an investigation for more suspect and your most suspicious death. And your sister because you were the only person there. Okay. And of course , you were his wife.
S6: And amongst the many , many questions the film asks is one which is that if anyone were to surreptitiously record the most intense argument any one of us has had with somebody else , and if that were to be showed in a courtroom , would we not ? Each one of us seem like monsters without context , and it really kind of plays into how every marriage is messy , and how every relationship between a parent and a child is nuanced and complex , and it's very hard to judge for harder even , to figure out who might have done what. I think this is a movie that you watch , and then you sit down with your friends and talk about it for hours.
S7: Well , you bring up this idea of monsters and a film that I am thankful for outside of this realm that we're talking right now. But monster , which is Corey Aida's new film that played just recently at the Asian Film Festival , is a film told in three segments where each one is a different point of view. Like watching ? Yeah , a little bit like Rashomon , but not specifically like one event. And the thing about that is , it really asks us if you only have a piece of information and you label somebody a monster , like , how accurate is that ? And each time we see another layer of this story , we start to question our own , like snap judgments that we were making at the beginning of the film. So this is a film that I really want to see , and I think it pairs well with that. Yeah. Other film monster , which ties into my I like theme.
S1: No , it really does. But what's so bad about it is when you were talking about , you know , if anyone saw a snippet of the most heated argument you've ever had in court , and I should probably really reexamine mine , because I'm sitting here thinking , have I ever even had an argument ? I don't know , like , I can't say that it was that intense. I've never been that intensely like argumentative about anything.
S6: I'm thinking along the same lines. Even if you've had an argument with a spouse or a friend where you're like , this really , really annoys me and I wish you would stop doing it. And , you know , I really. Can't take this from you anymore. And if that person happens to die , it suddenly puts you in a bad light , I think.
S1: Well , yeah , that that's true. That that part is true. Yeah. All right , all right. Well , Beth , your final pick looks at zombies and one zombie in particular. Yes.
S7: So my favorite zombie of all time. And zombies are frequently looked upon as monsters. But my favorite zombie of all time is bub. And bub comes from George Romero's Day of the dead film , which is not played quite as often as night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the dead. But this is a film set as the others in a post-apocalyptic world , and there's a group of scientists and military and other people living in this underground bunker , and one of the scientists has decided that he wants to investigate what zombies are really all about. So he sets up a lab where he's dissecting these creatures. And initially you think , how can you possibly feel any sympathy for a flesh eating zombie ? But Romero is very clever , and ultimately what he does is he's making a kind of statement about like , what are the lengths we go to to kind of discover something about another species or about something else ? And can I do something that makes you even feel empathy for these creatures ? And so this doctor at one point gives bub he's named this guy bub objects from human life a phone , a book , and he explains what this process is trying to do.
S14: But has been responding so well lately. I've let him live. Well , is he alive or dead ? Well , that's the question these days , isn't it ? Well , let's say that I let him continue to exist.
S15: Oh , bub. Toys for you.
S14: Some nice things for you to play with. You remember them from before ? From before.
S7: So I love bub , because he is often referred to as the first self-aware zombie. He's a zombie who is kind of starting to have this sense that what he is existing as is different than what he used to be. There's some sort of humanity just starting to come to the surface. And one of the reasons I love zombies is they're a perfect blank canvas for social commentary , but also they're perfect for reflecting our fears of being othered and also our very real fears of things like Alzheimer's and dementia , which allow us to look like ourselves but be robbed of that like little spark of humanity that really makes us who we are. So I adore zombies , and bub is at the very top of the list for monsters that I am thankful for.
S1: That is such an interesting take and I think you've both given us all something to think about here. With these suggestions and picks , I want to thank our midday movies critics Beth Accomando and Yazdi Pavlou and join us next month as we do a year end wrap to highlight some of the best films of 2023 as the award season kicks off into high gear. So thank you both very much.
S6: Thank you , thank you.
S1: That's our show for today. Roundtable is here tomorrow at noon. And of course , don't forget to watch Evening Edition tonight at five for in-depth reporting on San Diego issues. Also , if you ever miss a midday edition show , you can find the podcast on all platforms. Before we go , I want to thank the Midday Edition team technical producers Rebecca Chacon and Ben Read , lost Art segment contributors Beth Accomando and Julia Dixon Evans , producing team Giuliana Domingo , Andrew Bracken , Brooke Ruth , Ariana Clay and Laura McCaffrey. The music you're listening to is from San Diego's own surefire soul ensemble. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for listening.
