Just what the doc ordered

The beauty of the documentary is the wide range of subjects and points of view the format can accommodate, whether simply celebrating a life, showcasing a significant moment in tim... Read More

Coastal Commuter

Gone to pot

In the new world of legal marijuana, San Francisco and Los Angeles go upscale in their reefer madness

By Michael Snyder

When I have an evening screening in downtown San Francisco at the Metreon or Century 9, I generally time things so I can drive from my neighborhood and park on Mission Street, a b... Read More

Films

Seeking out and savoring big-screen San Francisco

By Michael Snyder

Some time back, I was at my Russian Hill abode with friends to watch a VHS tape of a 1974 buddy movie about two San Francisco police detectives who don’t play by the book. (Yes,... Read More

Coastal Commuter

Exclusion, inclusion, and the S.F. vs. L.A. conundrum

By Michael Snyder

After decades as a Californian who has lived in both San Francisco and Los Angeles for extended periods, I think I have the experience and baseline knowledge to weigh in on the way... Read More

Films

Hot summertime movies

By Michael Snyder

In the middle of what an old Nat “King” Cole tune referred to as “those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer,” certain folks choose to take a break from the heat in a nice, air... Read More

Coastal Commuter

Feline good

By Michael Snyder

Cats are cool. I’m talking the domesticated kind that live in relative harmony with people, not the wild predators who don’t care what you think of them as long as you&... Read More

Pop Culture

Saoirse Ronan, Billy Howle shine in ‘On Chesil Beach’ and ‘The Seagull’; SNL’s Hader stars in HBO’s ‘Barry’

By Michael Snyder

Saoirse Ronan’s Academy Award-nominated supporting performance as a precocious but troubled 13-year-old in Atonement — a 2007 British period drama — provided clear evidence t... Read More

Coastal Commuter

Pizza my mind

By Michael Snyder

Who doesn’t like pizza? Maybe a better question should be, “What kind of pizza do you like?” So many variations on the theme of doughy crust, tomato sauce, and ch... Read More

Television

Welcome to the age of video overload: Here’s what’s worth watching

By Michael Snyder

As mass media became increasingly massive during the past five decades, some pundit or scholar developed the concept of “information overload.” One might imagine a poor unfortu... Read More

Coastal Commuter

Getting personal with public works

By Michael Snyder

Call it the time-lapse effect. I go in and out of San Francisco and Los Angeles in roughly two-to-three-month cycles, and due to that lifestyle I see things change in strange and u... Read More

Movie Reviews

Panther power and subversion

By Michael Snyder

It’s been a few weeks since the release of the incredibly enjoyable, wildly kinetic, and unquestionably groundbreaking superhero movie Black Panther, the latest addition to what�... Read More

Coastal Commuter

Flagrant flu foments free-fall

By Michael Snyder

At the turn of the new year, my body kidnapped me. For more than a week, I was basically incarcerated at my Los Angeles digs, weak and bed-ridden, wavering from the sweats to the c... Read More

Pop Culture

Earworms, ‘earbuddies,’ and ‘tearworms’

By Michael Snyder

I was simply minding my own business at a high-tech shopping mall when singer-songwriter-actor Justin Timberlake’s summer hit “Can’t Stop the Feeling” — a highpoint of th... Read More

Coastal Commuter

Begin again . . . and again

By Michael Snyder

Dawn breaks on the first day of a new year, and all things seem possible — especially in a state like California with two big cities where, traditionally, people relocate to rene... Read More

Movie Reviews

Assessing the best of 2017

By Michael Snyder

It’s like clockwork when you cover the motion picture business. The beginning of a new year inevitably brings … one or more lists of the previous year’s best movies. So w... Read More

Michael Snyder