Stand-up is darker and gritty. Improv is happier and supportive.

Jean-Pierre Grumbach’s (Melville was the French filmmaker’s nom de guerre, appropriated in honor of his literary correlate, Herman) acutely minimalist take on American gangster films resulted in a formal probity unlike anything cinema has experienced …

A history of the clubs that have inhabited 3519 El Cajon Boulevard since 2001 (Little Equity, Zombie Lounge, Silver Dragon).

Lisa Badgett was shot in the face while behind the wheel of her truck. She’d gone to Oceanside to pick up her boyfriend. The perpetrator was a neighbor who suspected his gas was being stolen by Robbie Robbins, the boyfriend, who did not survive the assault.

“Our dream is to make the seafood sandwich as available as the hamburger.”

This ridge climb to a historic site has panoramic views of Lakeside and East County mountains.

W.S. Di Piero proves photography is authentic fine art.

Come Back, Matt! What happened to Straight From the Hip? I have been reading that in the Reader for multiple years. I make a beeline for it every Thursday. Straight From the Hip is the …

It’s been a busy few weeks for sex-related allegations at San Diego city hall, thanks to the now self-admitted but unspecified indiscretions of Democratic mayor Bob Filner. If the mayor’s accusers ever emerge to confront …

Like Hamlet’s father’s ghost, they only exist between the footlights and the proscenium.

It probably wasn’t as exciting as a clash in city council chambers between mayor Bob Filner and city councilman Todd Gloria, and the booze wasn’t on the house, but nothing beats Adams Avenue for homespun …

It appears that Papa Doug got mini-cameo roles as a reward for investing in films.

Rundown of music-related attractions at this year’s Comic-Con International.

Grand Tarantula: it’s a name that comes up in conversations about bands in town that are good to go and check out. The band has a lot of friends and admirers, and for good reason. …

If you’ve wondered what your favorite horror directors would do with unlimited creative freedom, then Masters of Horror is for you. The first season collects 13 veteran horror directors such as John Carpenter and Tobe …

Staff for Republican congressman Darrell Issa have been hitting the road frequently of late, journeying afar with the ostensible aim of picking up hints on everything from “drafting legislative policy” to “office management” and “mail.” …

Shane Culpeper, a studio owner/producer/promoter, talks about his experience in attempting to bring back the Metaphor Café and how it didn’t work out; he’s still looking for a venue.

Blade Runner draws you to insight instead of just excitement. I love how the story twists from the original assumptions of its myth: from inhuman replicants who are far more human than us. To have …

From George Higgins’s book, The Friends of Eddie Coyle is absolutely the best, grittiest, most expertly crafted crime thriller made in the golden decade of the genre — the ’70s. Shot entirely in Boston, this …

My father refused to teach my mother how to drive his car. He said it wasn’t ladylike in 1949; a woman driver was no better than a streetwalker. She was to take the bus and …

She shines upon the white lotus arisen from the water, pervading the world. She holds in her hands scissors, a sword, a skull and a blue lotus. Her ornaments are snakes in the form of …

Blog entries by a British man living in Tijuana. His fiancée is Mexican and he’s enthralled.