Arts & Events

The Pepper Spray Times offers this quick review of the performances of the Republican candidates’ September debate in the hope of helping our thoughtful readers sort the crowded field with the assistance of some of England'’s most articulate critics.

Donald Trump: turning the show into a black-draped harlequinade conjured out of a dressing-up box and laden with gratuitous business argot, focused on powdered wigs and shells of costume dangled from on high.
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Berkeley Symphony & Friends, the chamber music series on four Sundays at the Piedmont Center for the Arts, will dedicate this Sunday's 5 pm concert--featuring former San Francisco Symphony Concertmaster Stuart Canin on violin, pianist Janet Guggenheim and cellist Jonah Kim--to the memory of Robert Commanday, former Chronicle music critic and founder of the SFCV--San Francisco Classical Voice--website, often called the dean of Northern California performing arts critics. Commanday died September 3 at his Oakland home, age 93. -more-

Oakland's Third Annual Matatu Film Festival: September 23-26

Review by Gar Smith

Rev your engines, film lovers, it's time to get on board for Oakland's third annual Matatu Film Festival, an international convoy of cinematic screenings set to run from September 23-26 at The Flight Deck (1540 Broadway) and the Starline Social Club (645 West Grand Avenue Oakland, CA 94612).

The festival is named after East Africa's "matatus," a Swahili word that celebrates the colorfully decorated minibuses that skitter through crowded streets jammed with passengers and blasting local music. Festival founder Michael Orange explains the connection: both movies and matatus transport people to new (and sometimes surprising) destinations. The films in the Matatu collection, have been chosen to "spotlight a unique journey, regardless of age, geographical bounds, sexual preference, race, and socio-economic status." -more-