A good Samaritan stops a beating and recalls the lessons taught to her by her grandmother.

San Diego is home to a couple of speakeasy bars, including Prohibition and Noble Experiment. These places are exclusive, and hidden. My husband reserved 4 spots a couple months back at Noble Experiment, and it …

Years in development, Ridley Scott’s Aliens prequel Prometheus flaunts many roots, from epic themes sucked out of 2001: A Space Odyssey to the inevitable, awful ick-with-teeth (Aliens and its progeny). There is a dull nod …

The waiter at Street Side Thai Kitchen set the Garden Fish ($19.95) down in the middle of the table. A crispy orb peeked from beneath a fringe of cilantro. Freshly sliced tomatoes lined one side …

Three sisters — former “kitchen slaves” — opened their Cafe Di Roma in Imperial Beach.

First it was David and Liam who disappeared into the other room. Sean was next, followed by Heather a few minutes later and my mother not long after. “You’ve got to make him stop,” Jane …

A soundman is tasked with making a live concert sound like a recording, whether the stage environment is an open space in a rainstorm or a room the size of a walk-in closet. Kris Poulin …

As Queen Ravenna, the vicious usurper in Snow White and the Huntsman, Charlize Theron looks so fabulous that her Oscar-winner, Aileen Wuornos in Monster, seems almost another species. An empress of narcissism, Ravenna insists on …

‘He’s gone back to Afghanistan,” says Khaled Waleh. “He left last week.” It’s a shock. I’d come looking for Zia Waleh, famous for his intimate Zia’s Afghan Café in North Park, closed now but much …

If you’re going to do ’60s- and ’70s-style soul in 2012, you’d better be good. More than that, you need to sing soul like you mean it. For that reason, I was not won over …

Man versus horse, man versus tiddlywinks.

She’s white, doesn’t speak Spanish, goes to a Mexican’s party, and someone there calls her a “wetback.” Huh?

Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom opens with Benjamin Britten’s “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.” The tactic, like the music, is inspired. The kids of the Bishop family listen to the vinyl LP, and their imaginations …

Can you grow a smokable crystal-meth plant by sprinkling the “devil’s dandruff” on an ordinary plant while it grows? Can you, can you?

Way before Occupy San Diego, free speech activists got carted off to jail in 1912.

The Taz Taylor Band reassesses, remixes, rereleases Straight Up.

Less crowded, unique and beautiful wildlands make this a good place to explore.

A Pinter sampler at North Coast Rep; Brilliant Mistake at New Village Arts

The term “supergroup” was already old when Time got around to explaining it to their readers in 1974. Having been coined in 1969 to market the British band Blind Faith (Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ric …

Through rain, sweat, and tears, mascara that delivers.

Red Wizard gets booted off the band lineup following an article in the Reader.

Shake Before Us looks forward to gigging at the Ink-N-Iron Festival.

Is low home-ownership an indication of San Diego’s stagnant economy?

Through his career, François Cluzet has been chased by a resemblance to Dustin Hoffman. In a restrained French way, he might be as talented. I would rather view again his quadriplegic Philippe in The Intouchables …

I look over my shoulder down my arms to where they disappear under water into hands inside pink rubber gloves moiling among dinner dishes. My hands lift a wine glass, holding it by the stem …

Rock critic Richard Meltzer talks about his former columnist gig at the Reader and his new project with Mike Watt: Spielgusher.

Steamed ’Shrooms This is a comment on “In San Diego, It’s a Free-for-All,” page 20 of the May 31 Reader, by Siobhan Braun. That woman irritates the hell out of me. Every other mention of …