Phil Villarreal's Blog, page 38

Book Report: "Fingerprints of the Gods"

Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization by Graham Hancock
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Graham Hancock's bizarre book fueled my guilty-pleasure interest in "Ancient Aliens"-style pseudo science meshed with mythology.

Largely a travelogue interspersed with collected myths that support his sprawling theories, all coalescing into several contradictory and loosely intertwined conclusions, such as that the world will end in the year 2000, 2012 or 2030.

Also amusing is the theory that remnants of the great ancient civilization responsible for building temples throughout the world is buried beneath miles of Antarctic ice. And that the purpose of the temples is to signify the cyclical destruction and reinvention of the global populace.

Could there be a kernel of truth buried somewhere beneath Hancock's haystack of bizarre non sequiturs? I'd like to think so. I appreciate books, no matter how sloppily researched, that stimulate a childlike sense of wonder and yearning to solve the great mysteries.

Hancock's book does at least that.

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PHIL ON FILM: "Turning Red"

 For my full review, click here.

Warpzone Twitch Stream launches

 Here's the first episode. I'll talk games, TV and movies with other KGUNers at 10 a.m. Mondays.

BATA Opening Downtown

Owner and executive chef Tyler Fenton's small plate restaurant BATA is opening at 35 E. Toole, in a converted 1930s historic warehouse.
Here are a few dishes the restaurant offers:

Slow-Cooked SD Halibut - with mushroom dashi, Arizona barley, and charred kale
Grilled Pork Belly - with charred onion and kohlrabi 
                    Charred Brussels Sprouts - with black apple and salsa seca


Chiricahua -mezcale oaxacan rum, cherry shrub and egg white
Chocolate Mousse - with smoked almond tart and Arizona olive oil
Pork Loin - with charred squash, pecan, and coffee amino 



Apis Mellifera - small batch borboun, Southern Arizona honey, bitters

PHL ON FILM: "The Batman"

 For my full review, click here.

PHIL ON FILM: 5 Shows to Binge in March 2022

 For my full story, click here.

Broadway in Tucson Review: "The Band's Visit"

 "The Band's Visit" thrives in understated moments that build slowly up to colossal emotional payoffs.

Its characters stew in unfulfilled longings and grudging acceptance of their mundane day-to-day responsibilities. They are tormented by opportunities squandered and not only a lack of prospects, but uncertainty they would have the will to lunge after them should they come along again.

Sasson Gabay plays Tewfiq, the leader of a traveling Egyptian band set to play a gig in Israel.

Lost and baffled by cultural differences, the band stops to eat at a lonely diner overseen by Dina (Janet Dacal), who has a vague curiosity in the group that grows over time. Eventually, the bandmembers crash with the locals, comparing cultural and life notes in an improvised symphony.

Lithe and direct, the show cruises by at a brisk 90 minutes, with no intermission. Each of the 15 musical numbers are toe-tapping delights, with "Waiting," "Omar Sharif," "Something Different" and especially the post-bow concert powering through as show-stopping stunners that take the crowd by storm.

The musicality of the band members is as superb as their low-key acting, which breaks the live theater norm by saying more in empty spaces and mumbling than with grand gestures and enunciation.

Above all, the story and spirit of the show are about Dina's inner torment and whispered longings, punctuated with overpowering expressions of song and dance. Decal is up to the operatic challenge, belting out tunes with a fevered glory that mends hearts as it breaks them.

An offbeat, driven palate-cleanser, "The Band's Visit" is the polar opposite of the standards, and earns its place alongside them for its brave, genre-shattering methods. The lonely song of its soul is stark and true.

"The Band's Visit" plays through Feb. 27 at Centennial Hall. Purchase tickets here.

PHIL ON FILM: "Big Gold Brick"

 For my full review, click here.

Book Review: "The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal"

 

The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ben Mezrich's uncanny knack for scuba diving into an ocean of court documents and unearthing a compelling narrative is as skillful as Mark Zuckerberg's transformation of a dorm room website intoa billion-dollar business.

I was led to the book by the film adaptation, "The Social Network," and floored at how much better the book is than that ridiculously absorbing screenplay.

Mezrich deserves credit for taking numerous leaps of faith in imagining socially awkward moments and male bonding rituals in concocting his tale. Even if his vision of the betrayals, misunderstandings and epiphanies that led to Facebook's creation wasn't exactly spot-on, it's certainly the way it ought to have been.

In his matter-of-fact distance and comprehensive empathy for all of the characters who emerge, Mezrich paints convincing portraits of Zuckerberg, the Winklevosses, Eduardo Saverin and Sean Parker. All are complicated egotists whose divergent and blending interests created the monstrosity that the social network giant became. Without any of their help, no doubt it would have faded to black like Friendster or MySpace.

Mezrich's book, on the other hand, will stand strong even after Facebook's relevance has vanished. "The Accidental Billionaires" is an unqualified triumph, and it broke my heart when my time with it ended.

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PHIL ON FILM: "Dog"

 Here is my full review.