1. COMPOSITION

The No. 1 thing to consider to help make your photos pop is composition.

I like to tell people, “Don’t shoot everything from eye level – go low and go high.” Simply changing your point of view can give your images a whole new look.

Try turning your phone upside down and shooting from the ground. The unique perspective can make your subject stand out.

Also, turn the grid option on in your camera settings. This will overlay a tic-tac-toe board in your viewer and help you position subjects with the rule of thirds – a composition guideline that places your subject on the side of an image, leaving the other two thirds open.

2. PORTRAITS

When shooting portraits of people, bring them forward, away from the object you want to shoot them with – a sign, statue or historical marker – putting the person closest to the camera.

If your phone has it, use portrait mode when shooting people or pets. This makes the image look like it was shot with a long lens, creating a small depth of field with a blurred background.

3. LOW LIGHT

When setting your camera on low light mode, it’s good to rest the phone on an object for stability.

New phones can do incredibly in low light situations, but the best scenes are evenly light. Using the flash will expose the subject that is closest to the camera, but everything else will be dark. Experiment with no flash in dark situations.

4. PANORAMA

Extreme wide images can be a cool effect; they are usually created by starting the panorama and moving the camera across the image.

Pick a scene that has an interesting subject all around and try not to get too much of the sky. If you’re too close to the subject, the image will be extremely distorted.

You can even take vertical panoramas.

5. SHUTTER SPEED

Simply slowing down the shutter speed can create light streaks from moving cars or swift-moving water. It can make for some pretty cool photos.

On an iPhone, you can shoot in Live Mode and then select “long exposure” afterward.

There are apps you can download that can give you full manual control of the camera.

With its distinctive Mediterranean flair and famous panoramic views of the Bay and San Francisco’s city skyline, Sausalito is also known for its elegant, Victorian-era homes, rising up woodsy, steep-sided hills, and historic storefronts, many dating to a more rough-and-tumble era in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Massive marinas crowded with sailboats, yachts and colorful houseboats line the town’s waterfront, and a grand promenade with renowned seafood restaurants perched on piers beckon day-trippers with fancy food and sublime views.

It’s this charming storybook setting that has made Sausalito world famous over the years, drawing throngs of weekend tourists, who crowd the shops, art galleries and restaurants lining Bridgeway Boulevard, the town’s main thoroughfare.

At night, however, when most visitors are gone, Sausalito changes personality and reveals an alluring inner charm, thanks to several superb inns, fine dining spots, some lively bars and an enchanting and — dare we say — romantic after-dark ambiance. That’s what makes Sausalito my top choice for a relaxing weekend getaway, especially during the holidays.

For a recent Sausalito weekend escape, we stayed at the luxe Inn Above Tide in the heart of downtown and a stone’s throw from the town’s ferry landing. My wife and I booked the inn’s one-night “Bump Bar” package, one of several enticing gourmet packages offered by the inn. Others include itineraries designed by chef and restaurateur Joanne Weir, for example, and novelist Laura Dave, author of “The Last Thing He Told Me,” which was set and filmed in Sausalito.

We checked into our spacious, ground floor room in the late afternoon. Perched just above the waters edge, the room offered mesmerizing (and you might say dizzying) views of the Bay, with Belvedere and Tiburon, Angel Island, Alcatraz and the East Bay and San Francisco shorelines and skylines in the distance. It was an astonishing and unexpected surprise.

By the large bayside window that framed this view, we found the fixings for the Bump Bar package: a platter of white sturgeon caviar, crème fraiche, crackers, a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne, and a small mother of pearl spoon from Sausalito-based California Caviar Company, where their “Bump Bar” serves private parties and events. It was, to say the least, a dreamy way to start our Sausalito weekend getaway.

I love Bay Area history, and Sausalito is steeped in historical lore. It’s where the story of San Francisco began with the arrival of the Spanish exploratory vessel, the San Carlos, in the summer of 1775. Spanish land explorers were the first Europeans to discover San Francisco Bay, and when they entered the bay a few years later, they claimed the already-populated region for their empire.

The Spanish sailors moored their vessel at Angel Island and came to the shores of Sausalito for fresh water and to trade with the local indigenous tribe, the Coast Miwok. They named the spring-fed creek where they gathered water “Saucito” for the little willow trees that grew there. The name stuck, and the area eventually became known as Saucelito — eventually anglicized to Sausalito by the first British settler to arrive in the area, William Richardson.

In 1822, Mexico became the new regional sovereign after winning independence from Spain and ruled this small but important port until the Bear Flag revolt in 1846, leading to the subsequent occupation by the U.S. military and eventual cessation to the United States in 1848, just before the mayhem of the California Gold Rush.

This historic Marin landscape was literally the window and deck side view of our “room with a view” at the inn. Fog-kissed Angel Island caught the evening light, as we enjoyed the caviar and bubbly on the deck. Pelicans glided past in formation, and harbor seals played close by. Nighttime arrived, and the visitor crowds vanished, so we headed out on a short, pleasant walk to nearby Caledonia Street and an evening of fine dining at the acclaimed Sushi Ran, one of the Bay Area’s top Japanese restaurants.

After savoring nigiri and sashimi and plates of tempura, hamachi and crab cakes, we walked back to the inn along the Sausalito yacht harbor’s wide wooden boardwalk, taking in the nighttime sights and sounds of the sailboats moored here. At the edge of the marina, we peeked through the windows of Sausalito Books by the Bay and added it to tomorrow’s must-see list, then popped in for a jazz session and a post-dinner drink at the cozy No Name Bar, one of a few old school, local bars that has survived in Marin.

In the morning, the sunrise over Angel Island was just as magical as sunset had been, and we enjoyed the inn’s bountiful continental breakfast of baked goods, fresh fruit, juices, yogurt, coffee and tea, fueling up for a full day of exploration around town. Sausalito is great to explore on foot, and we love to walk, so we decided to head north along Bridgeway.

First stop was the Sausalito Historical Society’s new Ice House Museum, where fascinating displays reveal the area’s varied and colorful past. Continuing north on Bridgeway, we took a close look at several historic 19th and early 20th century arks, houseboats now moored on land on the waterfront. At the newly reimagined Dunphy Park, kayakers and stand-up paddleboarders were launching their craft into the bay, despite the chilly breeze. And nearby, the colorful houseboats of Galilee Harbor provided a revealing look at Sausalito’s famed waterfront community that took shape after World War II and established Sausalito as a magnet for musicians, artists and writers.

Next we visited the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Bay Model, where we saw a massive model of the Bay, displays on the region’s natural history and a fascinating museum on Marinship, the busy shipyard on the Sausalito waterfront during World War II. On a dock just outside the Bay Model, is Sea Trek, Sausalito’s longtime outfitter for kayak and SUP rentals and kayak tours — and a worthy stop for those looking for an on-water Sausalito adventure.

After lunch at nearby Fish, a delightful, casual waterside eatery near the Clipper Yacht Harbor, we visited the Heath Ceramics factory store on Gate Five Road. Heath’s elegant, colorful dinnerware — plates, bowls and cups — and tiles are classic California stoneware, rooted in the crafts movement of the late 1940s and a must-see site in Sausalito.

Walking back to the town center, we diverted off Bridgeway to Caledonia Street, which some locals regard as the real Sausalito. Here we found fun and funky Studio 333, a boutique, gallery and art collective; a local bar called Smitty’s; and some fine restaurants such as Sandrino Pizza & Vino, a stylish, small restaurant offering authentic, thin-crust Italian pizza made by chef-owners Alessandro Spaziani-Montagna and Monika Troggler, who hail from Verona, Italy.

Our long walk brought us back to the center of town, at the tiny but lovely Vina del Mar Plaza, a vestige of San Francisco’s 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition, where we enjoyed sitting by the ornate fountain on a park bench, surrounded by carved elephants, and munching cones of Hawaiian ice cream from Lappert’s located just across the street. It made a sweet finale to our sensational Sausalito weekend getaway.

That said, if you’re looking for a holiday-centric last hurrah, Sausalito can provide that too. You’ll find elaborate gingerbread structures at 27 shops, restaurants and businesses downtown, courtesy of the Chamber of Commerce, which is hosting its 17th annual Gingerbread House Tour from now through Dec. 31. In past years, the confectionary creations have included lighthouses, undersea scenes and a full mock-up of Alcatraz. Admire the sweet architecture, as you browse for gifts and dining inspiration — and make the weekend last a little longer.

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If You Go

Inn Above Tide: Rooms at this luxurious boutique hotel start at $515 per night. 30 El Portal, Sausalito; https://innabovetide.com/

Sushi Ran: Open for dinner daily and lunch Friday-Sunday at 107 Caledonia St.; https://sushiran.com/

Sausalito Books by the Bay: Open daily at 100 Bay St.; www.sausalitobooksbythebay.com/

No Name Bar: Open until 2 a.m. daily at 757 Bridgeway; https://thenonamebar.com/

Ice House Museum: Open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday at 780 Bridgeway; www.sausalitohistoricalsociety.com.

Bay Model Visitor Center: Open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday at 2100 Bridgeway. Find details at www.spn.usace.army.mil under the Missions/Recreation tab.

Sea Trek: Open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday at 2100 Bridgeway; www.seatrek.com/

Fish: Open from 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily at 350 Harbor Drive; www.331fish.com/

Heath Ceramics: The factory store is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at 400 Gate Five Road; www.heathceramics.com/.

Lappert’s Ice Cream: Open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily at 689 Bridgeway; www.lapperts.com.

Gingerbread House Tour: Pick up a map at the Sausalito Chamber of Commerce, 22 El Portal, or download one atwww.sausalito.org/gingerbread-house-tour.

Alas, there were a number of celebrity couples who presumably went through “sheer agony” in 2023. And, maybe one of the partners retreated to a glamorous resort destination to “suffer for a couple weeks.”

Were there more celebrity break-ups in 2023 than in years past?  It sure seems like it, given that a number of these splits felt genuinely shocking and dominated headlines for days, weeks, even months. Some involved A-list stars in seemingly happy unions. Others were particularly messy and litigious. In two notable cases, the shock came from the world learning that these long-term couples had separated years earlier but had yet to divorce.

Here’s a roundup of some of the painful celebrity uncouplings.

Hugh Jackman & Deborra-Lee Furness

‘Our journey is now shifting’

Rumors always swirled around this amiable Australian duo: Jackman was younger than Furness by 13 years and so very handsome, charming and into musical theater.

Furness often laughed off the rumors that Jackman was gay, and the couple stuck it out for 27 years, long enough to lead many to conclude that theirs couldn’t be a marriage of convenience. They also had two children and always appeared to be loving and in synch when they appeared together in public.

So, news of their separation came as a genuine shock. They continued to show their love by describing their separation as the result of two people who simply grew apart. One could say that their breakup was a textbook “gray divorce.”

“Our journey now is shifting,” Jackson and Furness said in a statement. “We undertake this next chapter with gratitude, love, and kindness.”

Joe Jonas & Sophie Turner

Mom-shaming and transatlantic litigiousness until Taylor Swift swoops in

Joe Jonas, or his people, learned the hard way that you don’t try to bad-mouth the Queen of the North, especially when she has a powerful friend like Taylor Swift.

Stunning news came in early September that the singer and the “Game of Thrones” star were headed for divorce after just four years of marriage. Things quickly turned ugly as Jonas filed for divorce in Miami, while Turner was in her native U.K. working on a TV series. People in Jonas’ orbit apparently leaked the idea that she was hard-partying 27-year-old and absentee mother who had left the doting father to take care of their young daughters while he and his brothers were on tour.

Turner hit back, filing a federal lawsuit, stating that she was the girls’ primary caregiver and alleging that her estranged American husband was “wrongfully” keeping their two young daughters in the United States.

By early October, temperatures had cooled, with the spouses reaching a temporary agreement to share equal time with the girls through the end of the year. Turner notably would be allowed to have the girls with her in England for the holidays. In a joint statement, the estranged couple said they looked “forward to being great co-parents.”

We’ll probably never know what prompted Jonas, especially, to back down. But perhaps Taylor Swift, whom he once briefly dated, had something to do with it. The most famous woman on the planet swooped in and anointed Turner her new BFF, let her stay at her New York townhouse and invited her to publicized power dinners with other famous women. Swifties were only too happy to rally for Turner and try to bury Jonas’ reputation on social media, reminding him that he probably was the inspiration for Swift’s lacerating song about a “casually cruel” boyfriend called “Mr. Perfectly Fine.”

Taylor Swift & Joe Alwyn

Making room for Travis Kelce

Not a whole lot to say that hasn’t already been said, but Swift surprisingly ditched her very English boyfriend Alwyn after six years of dating, and, after a dalliance with another skinny Brit — singer Matty Healy — propelled herself into the arms of Kelce, a robust, 6-foot-5-inch American football hero. With the two-time Super Bowl winner, the billionaire pop mega-star and Time Person of the Year is poised to conquer new territory: The world of the celebrity super couple.

Kevin Costner & Christine Baumgartner

Life-styles of the rich, famous and acquisitive

When Christine Baumgartner, the “Yellowstone” star’s wife of nearly 19 years, filed for divorce in May, no one could have predicted that their divorce would get so messy, costly and embarrassing.

During the nearly six-month court battle, Costner, Baumgartner and their high-priced attorneys battled over property, child support, legal fees, a prenuptial agreement and her avowed need to keep their three, teenage children in a lifestyle “to which they had become accustomed” — which included private-jet travel and resort vacations.

In the beginning of the mess, Costner had to get a judge to order Baumgartner to leave their $145 million Pacific Ocean-front estate near Santa Barbara, citing the prenuptial they signed before the 2004 wedding. She re-located to a $40,000-per-month rental home in Montecito, with a pool, jacuzzi and manicured gardens. But it still didn’t quite meet her specifications, as she revealed in court. She tearfully testified that her children wouldn’t be able to live on the water and enjoy Costner’s beach-club estate when they stayed with her in Montecito.

When she initially demanded $248,000 a month in child support, Costner’s team hit back with accusations that she’d use some of that money for a personal trainer and cosmetic surgery. Baumgartner at one point also asked for Costner to cover her $855,000 in legal fees and revealed he had a net worth of $400 million. Things got especially petty when the estranged spouses squabbled over exactly which pots, pans and other items she could remove from the house.

In mid-September, Costner and Baumgartner reached a settlement under terms which were not disclosed. But it’s understood that she’ll get around on $63,000 a month in child support — far less than she was asking — but more than the $1 million settlement outlined in the prenup.

Britney Spears & Sam Asghari

More amicable than you’d expect 

When Britney Spears and Sam Asghari announced they were separating after one year of marriage, the tabloids went into overdrive looking for dirt, hoping to confirm that their doomed relationship represented yet another sad and upsetting chapter in the singer’s sad and upsetting life.

Spears and Asghari didn’t exactly have the healthiest start. They began dating under under the specter of her 13-year conservatorship, which was imposed after she suffered a mental breakdown. Spears’ father, Jamie, controlled pretty much all aspects of her personal and professional life. Asghari proposed when the conservatorship was still in force, though they were able to wed in June 2022, seven months after it was dissolved.

Some speculated that Spears had suffered trauma during the conservatorship and was perhaps worse off without its oversight, Vox reported. The media wrote that her behavior was growing increasingly erratic, even as Asghari was portrayed as her “rock.” But soon, reports spread that Spears and Asghari were getting into frequent screaming fights and that she frequently “got physical” with him.

When TMZ broke the news in August that Spears and Asghari were separating, the outlet also reported that he thought the singer was cheating on him. Page Six claimed that Asghari threatened “to go public with extraordinarily embarrassing information about Britney,” unless she agreed to renegotiate the terms of their prenuptial agreement so that he would get more money.

Since then, Asghari hasn’t been moved to spill secrets. On the contrary, the exes seem to be on OK terms. In Spears’ memoir, “The Woman in Me,” she portrayed him as “a gift from God” who took care of her and helped her find the courage to fight her conservatorship. Asghari told TMZ in October that he was really moved and “freaking proud” that she wrote her best-seller. “I hope she takes over the world,” he said.

Cardi B & Offset

Breakup in the making? Again?

Every few months, something flares up in the roller-coaster marriage of Cardi B and Offset, which began in secret in 2017 and which has seen its share of cheating rumors, breakups and reconciliations.

The latest flare-up? The hip-hop couple recently unfollowed each other on Instagram, People reported. And you know what that means in celebrity world. The “Say My Grace” rapper also posted some cryptic messages on Instagram stories, including, “You know when you just out grow relationships.” She also said, “I’m of protecting peoples feelings…I GOTTA PUT MYSELF FIRST!”

Stay tuned.

Ariana Grande & Dalton Gomez

By way of a married Broadway actor few heard of 

It wasn’t that earth-shaking when Ariana Grande and her husband, Dalton Gomez, announced in July that they had separated after two years of marriage. Grande, after all, is known for cycling through relationships, and her marriage to the Los Angeles-based realtor carried that whiff of pandemic romance.

The shock came when rumors began to circulate that she had gotten herself into some kind of entanglement with Ethan Slater, a Broadway actor who is her co-star in the film version of “Wicked.” Reports said that Grande and Slater met on the set and began dating — even though Slater was married to Lilly Jay, the mother of his 1-year-old son. “It was obvious on the set from early on … they were very sweet to each other,” a source told People.

Insiders close to Grande insisted that she and Slater only got romantic after they had separated from their respective spouses. But after Slater filed for divorce, his estranged wife gave an angry interview to Page Six, in which she implied she was blindsided by the affair. She said, “My family is just collateral damage.” She reportedly said she later regretted making those remarks.

In September, sources said that the new couple were trying to quietly and “respectfully” navigate their relationship with each other and with “all parties involved.” In October, Us Weekly reported that Grande and Slater were living together in New York City. People also reported that Grande, who got her first break on Broadway, attended opening night for Slater’s new show, a revival of “Spamalot.”  A People source offered a reason that Grande could find Slater alluring: “She’s a theater kid at her core, so you see she really feels at peace being around Broadway.”

Jada Pinkett Smith & Will Smith

Jada Pinkett Smith made headlines and probably sold more copies of her memoir, “Worthy,” when she made the bombshell announcement in October that she and her megastar husband had been secretly separated for seven years.

That means that she and Smith were leading separate lives all those times they made a public show of being an emotionally evolved couple who had triumphed over challenges in their much-gossiped-about marriage — and when the actor plunged his career and family into turmoil by walking up on stage at the Academy Awards in 2022 and slapping Chris Rock. Jada Pinkett Smith added to people’s curiosity about her marital dynamic when she revealed they had no plans to divorce. “We love each other,” she told the Associated Press. “There’s no, ‘we’re going to get divorced.’ I’m not giving up on that dude. And he’s not giving up on me.”

A short time later, Meryl Streep confirmed that she, too, was in a similar, long-term separation arrangement from Don Gummer, her husband of 45 years. People reported that they had ended “the romantic nature” of their relationship six years earlier.

Streep’s personal life never generated much speculation, as it was assumed that the three-time Oscar winner was happily married to Gummer, a sculptor and the father of her four children. But as with the Smiths, people soon became curious about Streep’s marital dynamic. Her representative mysteriously shared with the media: “While they will always care for each other, they have chosen lives apart.”

Reese Witherspoon & Jim Toth

… And a “nefarious narrative” 

Reese Witherspoon reportedly never saw herself getting another divorce. But in March, she and second husband, former Hollywood agent Jim Toth, announced that they were divorcing after nearly 12 years together.

A narrative, which some observers called “nefarious,” soon emerged in the celebrity press: The marriage couldn’t accommodate Witherspoon’s overachieving ways. As the actor, producer and entrepreneur’s career took off in exciting and lucrative new directions in the 2010s, Toth’s “remained flat,” reports said. “She’s become so much more powerful than she was when they married and has expanded her areas of interest in so many ways,” a source told Page Six. Other reports pointed to a difference in temperaments: “Reese is headstrong and focused” while Toth “is more laidback.”

“The Morning Show” star may have married Toth in 2011 because he seemed like a “solid, dependable and stable guy,” offering a contrast to the turbulence she experienced in her marriage to Ryan Phillippe, Page Six said. But over time, the “spark” between Witherspoon and Toth faded. Meanwhile, friends insisted that there was “no drama” between them. In a statement, Witherspoon and Toth said: “We have enjoyed so many wonderful years together and are moving forward with deep love, kindness and mutual respect for everything we have created together.”

Joshua Jackson & Jodie Turner-Smith

How did Lupita Nyong’o come into this?

When Jodie Turner-Smith filed for divorce on Oct. 2 after four years of marriage, Joshua Jackson was “caught off guard” and left “baffled,” Us Weekly reported.

The “Dawson’s Creek” star knew they had their “issues,” but he didn’t think things had gotten “bad” enough to split. But to Turner-Smith, the relationship had become “unhealthy” and “she decided that she is done,” People reported.

As much as Jackson reportedly wasn’t ready to end his marriage, he seemed to move on pretty quickly. Some two weeks after Turner-Smith filed the paperwork, he was spotted at Janelle Monáe’s concert in Los Angeles, “standing close to” Lupita Nyong’o. The Oscar winner had just shared that she, too, was newly single. On Instagram, she said she was suffering “a season of heartbreak” after some kind of “deception” led to her split from TV host Selema Masekela, BuzzFeed News said. Turner-Smith also had some things to say on Instagram, sharing a cryptic message about how a “healed” person understands that the “actions of others have nothing do to with them.”

Fast-forward to this week. Jackson and Nyong’o were spotted grocery shopping Monday in Los Angeles but tried to hide the fact that they were together and a couple, TMZ said. But the next day in Joshua Tree, the two either were unaware the paparazzi were following, or they didn’t care. Photos shared by TMZ show the new lovebirds, holding hands and smiling while on a stroll through the desert town.

Sofia Vergara & Joe Manganiello

Who got Bubbles? 

No one expected that the surprise divorce announcement by Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello in July would get messy. But there was one issue over which tears might be shed: Who would get custody of Bubbles?

The 10-year-old dog, a Chihuahua/Pomeranian mix, initially was supposed to be Vergara’s pet. The “Modern Family” star brought Bubbles home shortly after their 2015 wedding. But Vergara herself admitted that Bubbles took an instant liking to Manganiello and always preferred his company. She described Bubbles as Manganiello’s “little daughter.” In turn, the “Magic Mike: XXL” star showered Bubbles with affection and often featured her in his social media posts.

Fortunately, the estranged spouses kept things friendly, and Vergara reportedly decided to let Manganiello have Bubbles. A source told Page Six: “Neither one of them is bitter or out for revenge, and Sofía loves Bubbles and wants her to be happy, which is precisely why she’s letting Joe have custody.”

Bijou Phillips & Danny Masterson

30 years to life and Scientology reportedly make it tough 

News that Bijou Phillips filed for divorce from Danny Masterson in September came as a shock to many, even though he had just been sentenced to 30 years to life in prison after he was convicted of two counts of rape. Still, Phillips publicly stood by her husband through his arrest on multiple rape charges, attended every day of his two trials and let out an anguished sob when a jury in the second trial found him guilty of rape.

Some legal experts speculated that the divorce filing was less a statement about Phillips’ feelings for the father of her 9-year-old daughter and more about the couple’s need to protect their assets in any civil court actions.

But a Daily Mail report in October cited a former member of the Church of Scientology, who said that Phillips’ decision may have been influenced by the Church of Scientology, of which she and Masterson were prominent long-time members. The Daily Mail said Masterson reportedly was expelled from the church after his sentencing and labeled a “suppressive person,” which means that other Scientolologists, including Phillips, need to cut ties with him.

Keke Palmer & Darius Jackson

Saying no to abuse and controlling behavior 

The first sign that Keke Palmer was in an unhealthy relationship with Darius Jackson was in July, after her boyfriend of two years publicly shamed her for wearing an outfit that he thought was too revealing for the mother of his son.

Jackson, who has an unspecified career in fitness and entertainment, made the comments after the “Nope” actor wore a black bodysuit to an Usher concert in Las Vegas. He doubled-down after social media backlash, writing: “This is my family & my representation! have standards & morals to what I believe.”

For the next four months, Palmer wouldn’t respond to reporters’ questions about the status of their relationship. But in November, she revealed the torment she said she had been living under. In a court filing, seeking a restraining order and full custody of their 10-month-old son, Leo, Palmer accused Jackson  of abusing her multiple times during their relationship.

In the “many instances of physical violence,” Palmer said Jackson destroyed her personal property, including her diaries and eyeglasses, and took her car keys to prevent her from driving away. She also said he hit her in front of their son, spewed profanities about her to their baby and threatened to kill himself with a gun if she left him.

“It is because of our son, Leo, that I was finally able to end my relationship with Darius once and for all and escape the abuse,” Palmer wrote in court documents, Page Six reported. “He needs and deserves to be safe and grow up in an environment free from violence.”

Shannen Doherty & Kurt Iswarienko

Divorce in the time of cancer 

The “Beverly Hills, 90210” alum and cancer advocate recently revealed that she learned her husband of 11 years had been cheating on her — just before she had to undergo surgery in January to remove a tumor from her brain.

“I went into that surgery early in the morning, and I went in after I found out that my marriage was essentially over, that my husband had been carrying on an affair for two years,” Doherty said this week in an episode of her new podcast. She said Iswarienko wanted to be at the hospital with her, but she told him no. “I couldn’t go into that surgery with him there. I felt so betrayed.”

After Doherty’s surgery, she and the photographer separated. Four months later, Doherty filed for divorce. This would be her third divorce, and the blow comes as she continues to receive treatment for cancer. Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, then revealed in 2020 that she had been diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. She has subsequently said that the cancer has spread to her brain and to her bones.

Even with her cancer struggles, Doherty said: “I don’t think I’m going to be single forever I have to love myself and reckon with the past, really, before I can move forward, and now I’m pretty sure I’ll meet somebody — hopefully soon.”

Just consider what awaits you: Emma Stone turns into a twitchy Frankenstein-like creature with a hardy sexual appetite; a flock of evil gargantuan parakeets terrorize in Hayao Miyazaki’s latest animated fable; and a mysterious, life-altering event turns mild-mannered deer into menacing creatures that freak out Julia Roberts.

Here’s our roundup, but a word of advice. It’s best to keep a mind wide open while viewing.

“Poor Things”: Yorgos Lanthimos will never be accused of coasting on his laurels and playing it safe. The Greek filmmaker all but gobsmacked audiences with “The Lobster,” “The Favorite” and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” and he relishes coloring way outside of conventional narrative lines. And frankly contemporary modern cinema is better for it. His latest is true to form, and is as warped, brilliant and brazenly deluded as the legendary creator that it creatively tips its hat to — Baron von Frankenstein. Mary Shelley’s classic serves as a template for this enterprise, a bonkers, sexy, excessive but thoroughly entertaining odyssey festooned around an outrageously inspired performance from Emma Stone, going for broke right along with Lanthimos.

Stone plays child-like Bella Baxter — BB, for short — a clever double meaning. The Victorian-era Bella has the brain of a child but the bod of a woman. She was brought back to life, pieced together really, by the scarred Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), or God, who, ironically, likes to tinker with animal parts to create something new. Bella develops an unquenchable appetite for knowledge and sex, which leads to a fantastical journey — including a visually spectacular passage on a ship — with leering lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), who wants to possess her for sex and doesn’t want her to become her own person. Broken down in fabulist chapters, the feminist “Poor Things” is certain to offend some viewers, but that’s part of its wacko charm. It’s a rollercoaster ride that curlicues around numerous inspirations (including the fantastical work of director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Jean Cocteau’s “Beauty and the Beast,” Elia Kazan’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” and, of course, James Whale’s/Shelley’s “Frankenstein” to name but a few). But it also tears down the male desire to dominate and shape women around them, a deluded notion aimed to stifle and box in someone like Bella. In “Poor Things,” Bella learns she also harbors the power and smarts to create. And oh how satisfying it is to watch her — and Stone — wield that liberated power. Details: 3½ stars; in theaters Dec. 8.

“The Boy and the Heron”: Hayao Miyazaki’s 12th animated feature is a mesmerizing beauty, even if it doesn’t soar to the same heights as his classics such as “Spirited Away,” “Princess Mononoke,” “Ponyo,” “Howl’s Moving Castle” and others. Still, the justly revered filmmaker’s first feature in 10 years is an entrancing delight, and must be seen on a massive screen to appreciate its visual splendor. Miyazaki mines aspects of his own childhood and centers “Heron” on the grieving-for-his-mom Mahito Maki, a 12-year-old who warily moves to an estate with his father who just wed his dead mom’s sister, Natsuko. Once there, a feisty blue heron with magical properties pesters Mahito with the two eventually entering an alternative realm where evil gargantuan parakeets keep watch over a now kidnapped and pregnant Natsuko. Filled with elegantly rendered imagery that few other animated features could approach, it’s another lovely, lively fable that weaves a magical spell and is filled with ache and layered meaning. The last scene, however, is abrupt and perfunctory unfortunately. Details: 3½ stars; in theaters now.

“Leave the World Behind”: What’s the danger of wanting to exist only in our own individualized bubbles, comfortable spaces we’ve created where “strangers” on the outside aren’t welcome? Well-to-do New Yorkers Amanda (Julia Roberts) and Clay (Ethan Hawke) and their teen-aged son Archie (Charlie Evans) and daughter Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) find out the problem with that ideology when a cataclysmic event disconnects them from the outside world while they’re kicking it at a remote Airbnb. After a harrowing day at the beach where a cargo ship plows into it, a Black man (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter (Myha’la) knock at the rental property and say they live there and want to stay. That’s the tinder-box setup for director/screenwriter Sam (“Mr. Robot”) Esmail’s eerie, uncomfortable-making adaptation of author Rumaan Alam’s apocalyptic novel, which shook us out of our own insular, walled-in shells while reading it in the midst of COVID-19. Executive produced by the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions company (the novel landed on Barack Obama’s 2021 best list), “Leave the World Behind” burrows under the skin and exposes festering racism hidden inside as our so-called “connected” world gets shattered and conspiracy theories and fears abound while nature watches, waits and stares. It’s an unsettling, well-acted experience with layers and cautionary warnings to spare. And it’ll have you looking at your bicuspids afterwards. Details: 3½ stars; drops Dec. 8 on Netflix.

Find of the week

“The Three Musketeers — Part I: D’Artagnan”: You’re first reaction might be: not another one. Alexandre Dumas’ oft-adapted 1844 swashbuckler gets another turn in director/co-screenwriter Martin Bourboulon’s new film. But watch 10 minutes of this action-packed crowd pleaser stuffed with royal intrigue, swordplay and guy camaraderie and you’ll be all in. The cast is ridiculously first class and includes Vincent Cassel as the falsely accused Athos, Eva Green as the slithery Milady de Winter, Louis Garrel as the threatened King Louis XIII, Romain Duris as the charmer Aramis and François Civil as the cocky D’Artagnan. The production values are exquisite, the cinematography gorgeous and the fighting sequences exciting. It’s on a par with Richard Lester’s 1972 version, and that is saying something. Details: 3½ stars; available On Demand; Part II will be released next year.

“Eileen”: Seasonally appropriate in a strange and twisted way, this dark, dark noir — set near Boston during Christmastime in the 1960s — is cut from the same pulpy antihero cloth favored by such iconic crime writers as Jim Thompson and Patricia Highsmith. Like the works of those genre specialists, “Eileen” coughs up a dim view of human nature. Director William Oldroyd’s shadowy psychological thriller is adapted from Ottessa Moshfegh’s serpentine, character-driven 2015 novel of the same name, a Booker Prize finalist that earned praise for its unique voice. Moshfegh adapted her novel for the screen with writer Luke Goebel, and the duo have produced one of the smartest screenplays of 2023, one that presents Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway with juicy parts. McKenzie sheds all innocence to play the title character, a voyeuristic 24-year-old caregiver to a belittling and drunken dad (Shea Whigham). She’s mesmerized by the striking entrance of flashy new counselor Rebecca (Hathaway, in full femme fatale mode) who drives into the office parking lot that’s full of beige and boring autos in a sporty red car. Rebecca’s unorthodox ways and professional practices tantalize Eileen and turn many heads, naturally. As they two get closer, “Eileen” hits you at the two-thirds point with a huge surprise — it’s not a wowza, and it works, as does just about everything else in this demented and twisty thriller. Details: 3½ stars; opens Dec. 8 in San Francisco, opens wider next week.

Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.

For a list of notable newsmaker and celebrity deaths in 2023, click here.

This week we check out a contender for that title,  Alexander Payne’s seasonally appropriate — for December — “The Holdovers.”

Take that perennial Christmas chestnut you watch time and time again. Sprinkle in elements of “Dead Poets Society.” Then let someone like the late filmmaker Hal Ashby, who graced us with “Harold and Maude,” baste it and bake it.

That somewhat conveys what you have with Alexander Payne’s holiday-themed treat, a droll but fragile character study about three loners stuck together in 1970 at a snowy New England prep school during what’s allegedly the “most wonderful time of the year.”

Payne has always specialized in giving us multi-dimensional, quirky individuals, characters you sometimes like and sometimes simply can’t stand. In essence, they’re flawed and act an awful lot like you and me. That’s true of the trio that screenwriter David Hemingson crafts with such genuine and delicate care. They include a crabby professor (Paul Giamatti, who had his breakthrough role in Payne’s “Sideways) whose pontifical retorts are often anchored to arcane historical references that no one can understand; a grieving Black chef (Da’Vine Joy Randolph, channeling every genuine emotion the script calls for) spending her first Christmas without her son, killed in Vietnam; and a brainy but volatile teen (Dominic Sessa, a welcome newcomer) who got pawned off by his mom and her new and wealthy husband.

They are very different people with a common ailment: each is nursing deep-seated pain.

It’s one of Payne’s best funny-sad films, and it’s steeped in a nostalgic fondness for early ‘70s filmmaking — evident in the throwback credits and in the film’s faded color palette and unrushed pacing. That does mean it takes its meandering time to get to the “meat” of the story — if you can call it that — but patience proves out as “Holdovers” fleshes out its leads and reveals their secrets and the intense feelings inside each of them.

For that reason and others (including the soundtrack), “The Holdovers” is way tastier than your average holiday movie leftovers. Payne brings to the vast tableau of Christmas films a departure — a  movie about  three lonely people having a dickens of a time connecting and dealing with their feelings until they get thrown together to find comfort and joy from each other. And isn’t that exactly what the holidays are supposed to do? Details: 3½ stars out of 4; in theaters Nov. 3.

Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.

Oh, yeah.

Here’s our roundup.

“The Fall of the House of Usher”: It’s risky to modernize or repurpose classic literary works and try to create something unique and visionary in the process. Even Oscar-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón failed with a misguided “Great Expectations,” starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow.

But upscale horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan could write a textbook on how to do it right with his eight-part ode to legendary horror writer Edgar Allan Poe. This inspired “Usher” infuses Poe’s tales of terror with contemporary relevance and respects the source material.

Flanagan’s macabre update of Poe’s story of familial depravity and madness serves as a table setting for an “And Then There Were None” schematic in which the ones getting picked off are soulless members of a privileged, uber-wealthy family that has built its pillar of wealth by addicting Americans to painkillers.

Lording over this dynasty is a vile twosome with a rotten childhood to say the least: brother Roderick (the underrated Bruce Greenwood) and his conniving sister Madeline (the equally underrated Mary McDonnell).

Ostensibly, Roderick is the patriarch in charge but he has a hard time corralling his narcissistic adult children (inheritors), all of whom have kinky dark sides that lead them down the bloody road to a Poe-inspired fate. Flanagan wrote or co-wrote all but one episode, and the writing is as razor-blade sharp and bloody clever as with his signature works, Netflix’s “The Haunting of Hill House,” “Midnight Mass” and the underrated standalone film “Doctor Sleep.”

The creepy production values are top-notch and the scares are not only frightening but disturbing. (“Usher” is more gory and loads up on more sex than Flanagan’s past series). The cast is consistently strong and features Mark Hamill going gruff as the extra-busy Usher lawyer Arthur Pym, who attempts to mop up the family’s many messes. Another treat is seeing Flanagan regular Carla Gugino as a mysterious presence popping up throughout the lives of Roderick and Madeline. It all makes for ghoulish fun that’s well-suited for the upcoming Halloween season. Make no mistake, though, this isn’t just a bingeworthy streamer; “The Fall of the House of Usher” just so happens to be one of the best series Netflix has ever produced. Details: 4 stars out of 4; all episodes drop Oct. 13.

“Lessons in Chemistry”: Ask any book club member to choose one of their favorite novels from 2022 and chances are Bonnie Garmus’ beguiling novel featuring a quirky brainiac with one of the best names ever — Elizabeth Zott — will pop up on that list. While the misfortune was mine for not reading it beforehand, I will definitely do so after watching showrunner Lee Eisenberg’s moving eight-part adaptation for Apple TV+.

I can see why “Lessons in Chemistry” found a favored spot on bookshelves everywhere. But as fans know, divulging too much about what happens to Elizabeth (played to the eccentric hilt by Oscar winner Brie Larson) would be a recipe for hate mail. Suffice to say she stars as a brilliant chemist whose career is blotted by the patriarchy ruling the science world of the ‘50s. What can be also be said is that there is great chemistry between Larsen and Lewis Pullman as hot-shot chemist Calvin Evans who shares the same passion as she and is just as equally socially awkward. A turn of events upends their careers and leads the resilient Elizabeth on a path to a subversive cooking show. “Lessons in Chemistry” could have been tighter (trimmed to six episodes), and a subplot about Black neighbor Harriet (Aja Naomi King) fighting racial injustice could be more developed. Still, “Chemistry” comes up with a winning formula in the end. And one episode that gets told from the perspective of the family dog Six Thirty (voice of B.J. Novak) tears you up — particularly if you’re a pet owner. Details: 3 stars; two episodes drop Oct. 13, with a new episode dropping every Friday through Nov. 24.

“Foe”: What unfolded well on paper doesn’t fare so well on screen in Garth Davis’ misguided but very good-looking version of Iain Reid’s ambitious sci-fi-tinged psychological drama. Its central premise about a stranger (Aaron Pierre) making an extraordinary offer that calls into the question the relationship of an isolated couple (Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan) in a farmhouse and separates them for an extended period of time is indeed intriguing, but the unpredictable turns in the screenplay — written by Davis and Reid — wind up ringing false and unraveling into a pretentious, impenetrable mess. There are big themes explored here — including AI — but the should-be unsettling material gets way too cluttered and at times becomes laughable, disconnecting us from the plight of these two, who seem to use up a hell of a lot of water during a drought that’s killing off the planet. That is just one of the puzzling aspects of a production that unfortunately squanders the talents of Mescal and Ronan and its gorgeous production values. Just read the book. Details: 1½ stars; opens Oct. 13 in San Francisco theaters and Oct. 20 at the Piedmont Theatre in Oakland.

“The Caine Mutiny Court Martial”: In one of his final acts as director, the late, great William Friedkin presented his cast — notably Kiefer Sutherland as the quick-tempered Lt. Philip Francis Queeg (a part made immortal by Humphrey Bogart) — with the greatest gift he could offer, allowing each actor to take juicy command of the camera as it hones in on every facial tic and twitching hand on the witness stand. Each gets a chance to shine in this contemporized courtroom drama that’s based on Herman Wouk’s play. Queeg doesn’t get much screen time but his presence lingers throughout. Viewed as an old guard who’s out of touch, Queeg’s blamed by Lt. Steve Maryk (Jake Lacy, giving the role some shading) and others for putting members of the Navy at risk during a storm at sea. Maryk’s decision to step in and take command gets him branded as a mutineer and lands him in a court-martial trial, along with his reluctant lawyer (Jason Clarke). It makes for a classic courtroom thriller, and comes with a zinger at the end — a warning from a filmmaker who’s irreplaceable. Details: 3 stars; available on Showtime and Paramount+.

“Castlevania: Nocturne”: In eight briskly told animated episodes, showrunners Kevin Kolde and Clive Bradley relocate the popular vampire streaming series in the French Revolution with vampire hunter Richter Belmont (voiced by Edward Bluemel) taking on a nasty batch of aristocrats preying on poor people. The action does get bloody and features a batch of new and intriguing characters, including the gay Olrox (voice of Zahn McClarnon of “The Dark Winds” series), an Aztec bloodsucker responsible for the death of Richter’s mom. He too senses that something major and ominous is in the works, and doesn’t like it. My only beef about this intricately plotted season is that its eighth episode lacks a true ending, making us gnash our teeth for another season. Fortunately, we’ll get it since Netflix just announced “Nocturne” has been renewed. Details: 3 stars; available now on Netflix.

Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.

Here’s our roundup.

“Heartstopper Season 2”: Even the most cynical amongst us probably couldn’t resist the charm of this Netflix series that depicts the romantic tale about two very unlike teen boys falling in love. Now the legions of “Hearstopper” fans can take heart, Season 2 has arrived and it’s just as good as the first season, as worrywart Charlie (Joe Locke) and jock Nick (Kit Connor) prepare to take their relationship to another level — announcing to all, including a handful of homophobes at school, that they are indeed a couple. But feeling comfortable and getting the timing right to do so proves challenging in Season 2. Just as Nick musters up the courage to declare that he is bisexual and in a relationship with Charlie, an obstacle gets put into the couple’s path.

Based on the graphic novel and webcomic by series creator Alice Oseman, this eight-episode series expands upon and creates more challenges for the British teens and their friends, with the bulk of it coming during a class trip – with two chaperones – to Paris where they meet (briefly) with Nick’s preoccupied father.

“Heartstopper” clicks because Locke and Connor click onscreen, and more than ever this time as the actors get a chance to deepen their acting range, as Charlie addresses his issues with anxiety and Nick wrangles with his desire to always be the strong one who does the right thing.

While Charlie and Nick’s story anchors “Heartsopper,” the series is just as engaging and enjoyable when it spends time hanging out with friends, particularly Tao (William Gao) and Elle (Yasmin Finney), the two friends who grow closer and closer.

“Heartstopper” is a gem, and remains perhaps the most uplifting, refreshingly optimistic and utterly charming series currently running on TV or streaming platforms. I’m already eager to see where Season 3 will take these likable characters. Details: 3½ stars out of 4; available Aug. 3 on Netflix.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”: True confession time, I don’t know a Donatello turtle from a Donnatella Versace gown. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this  animated reboot of the ‘80s-’90s phenom — a beloved cultural mainstay that has an ardent fan base to this day.

As directed and co-written by Jeff Rowe — who wrote and co-directed Netflix’s rather brilliant “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” — with co-writing assists from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and others, this funny, fast-paced adventure could have a punchier screenplay at times and even cut down on the vomit jokes. But it’s hard to resist  the endearing teen quartet of New York sewer-dwelling reptiles and their de facto mutant Rat dad. Really. The best elements of this nostalgic plunge arrive in flashback form as we delve into the origin story of the pizza-loving, martial arts team. It is there, as their quest to be — like so many of us — accepted by the “normal” humans who both mock and fear them, that the film wins you over.

The star-studded vocal cast (Jackie Chan, John Cena, Rose Byrne, Rogen and so on) makes it even more appealing. But it’s Ice Cube who saves the day as destructive-prone Big Apple mutant Superfly. His velvety vocal performance, along with the distinctive urban animation style, gives this one its pop, making it a rarity — a reboot that’s actually worth seeing. And stay through the mid-credits since there’s a scene that sets the stage for future mayhem. Details: 3 stars; in theaters now.

“Shortcomings”: Adrian Tomine’s acerbic, deservedly praised 2007 graphic novel gets the movie adaptation treatment more than 15 years after the mostly Berkeley-set story came out. That time gap unfortunately makes some of the material seem, well, rather dated.

Tomine wrote the screenplay with actor Randall Park directing. They’re a good team, but the film turns into a rather unengaging mumblecore-like character study wherein a jealous, unlikable movie theater manager and nascent filmmaker bungles his life and his relationship by secretly dating others, and then ambles over to New York to get his true love back. Comedian and “Joy Ride” scene-stealer Sherry Cola again commands attention as Ben’s (Justin H. Min) lesbian bestie. While it is a treat to see East Bay staples — the Homemade Cafe, Pegasus Books, BART and so on — on the screen, there’s no denying that Ben is a nails-on-the-chalkboard irritating protagonist (no fault of Min’s) who complains that no one else realizes his cinematic brilliance. Good grief! As was the case of another film version of an East Bay-based graphic novel — Daniel Clowes’ “Wilson” (starring Woody Harrelson and Laura Dern) — something essential gets lost in the translation to the screen. Read the book instead. Details: 2 stars; in theaters Aug. 4.

“Afire”: Christian Petzold continues to solidify his reputation as one of his generation’s most exciting and versatile filmmakers. This Eric Rohmer-inspired chamber piece places an insecure and jealous writer (the worst kind) along with his gregarious chum in a summer house near the Baltic sea. Author Leon (Thomas Schubert) is a nervous wreck about meeting up with his editor to discuss how to save his mediocre sophomore novel, the unwittingly titled “Club Sandwich.” Leon expects some R&R and perhaps a chance to some rewriting near the beach with his chum Felix (Langston Uibel), but instead he gets distracted by two other inhabitants in the house where he and Felix are staying – the beguiling and whip-smart Nadja (Paula Beer, a Petzold regular) and her hunky, quite amorous lover David (Enno Trebs). Meanwhile, a forest fire rages nearby. How do all these elements come together? In true Petzold style, they do, but you’ll have no idea how the drama will play it. “Afire” does stick to a Petzold tradition, leaving you with an ending you’ll want to untether and unpack afterwards. Just relax and fall under its sensual spell. Details: 3½ stars; in theaters Aug. 4.

“The Baker”: All the essential ingredients get tossed into the bloody batter of Jonathan Sobol’s formulaic yet quite capable action entry. A laconic Ron Perlman stars as a Florida baker with a nightmare past as well as an estranged “entrepreneur” son  Peter who gets into trouble in an airport parking lot and walks away carrying a bag of drugs. Hardly a candidate for dad of the year himself, Peter (Joel David Moore, in a convincing turn) saddles grumpy pops with his smart but silent 8-year-old daughter, Alfie (Emma Ho) while he tries to outsmart mobsters, including the main man played by Harvey Keitel. Things do get violent — as so happens in genre flicks like this — but the crisp screenplay, good acting and athletic direction let you forgive that none of this story is pippin’ hot fresh out of the oven. Sometimes you just want straightforward comfort food, and that’s what you’ll get along with a game Perlman. Details: 3 stars; in theaters now.

“River Wild”: It takes a whole lot of chutzpah to opt to “reimagine” a guilty-pleasure river-rafting thriller that starred the likes of multiple Oscar-winner Meryl Streep and the underappreciated Kevin Bacon. Undaunted director and co-writer Ben Ketai navigates those treacherous waters with this airtight survival thriller. Yes, the acting can’t approach the caliber of Curtis Hanson’s preposterous 1994 hit, but it’s impressive. Shot in Hungary, Slovakia and Bosnia, Ketai’s tense drama runs as swift as a Class V rapid, building upon and revealing the backgrounds and motivations and bonds of five rafters who embark on an adventure that turns dangerous and murderous. Whereas Hanson’s thriller was glossier and sillier, this “River Wild” churns with more realistic situations as it targets the survival genre. Adam Brody injects more nuance into the role of a rafting guide wanting to escape a mysterious past while the brother-sister relationship between Gray (Taran Killam) — who runs a rafting company — and Joey (Leighton Meester) grows more complicated as the past gets revealed. All of this makes “River Wild” a taut exercise with a few teeth-gnashing rafting sequences. Details: 3 stars; available to rent or buy on Vudu and Amazon Prime.

“Amanda”: In this satirical character study set in Italy, bored and privileged 24-year-old Amanda (Benedetta Porcaroli, in a nimble performance) decides that she needs to make a friend for once. Trouble is no one really wants to be her bestie since she’s such an annoying, self-involved and pampered pain. Amanda sounds like a character we’d have little tolerance for, but somehow debuting director and screenwriter Carolina Cavalli, along with Porcaroli, make her a compelling and complex person but a symbol of what’s often wrong with the dissatisfied rich — namely disinterested parents and too much wasted time dwelling on neuroses. “Amanda” never lets its guard down or soft-pedals its protagonist’s preoccupation with herself, even as it slyly lampoons the culture and society that not only creates but enables rich characters. Details: 3 stars; opens Aug. 4 in select theaters.

“Kokomo City”: Four transgender sex workers in New York and Georgia talk with great candor and insight about their profession, dreams and lives in D. Smith’s B&W eye opener of a documentary. Smith’s debut heralds a great career but sadly serves as the painful eulogy for one of its subjects — 35-year-old Koko Da Doll who was shot dead April 18 in Atlanta. Details: 3 stars; in theaters Aug. 4

Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.

Then along came the “Stephen Curry: Underrated” team of Oakland director/co-producer Peter Nicks and others associated with Proximity Media, including Oakland native and “Black Panther” filmmaker Ryan Coogler. Their proposal arrived at the perfect time and proved to be just what Curry wanted.

The phenomenal Golden State Warriors point guard and sensational golfer (check out his hole-in-one last weekend at the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe) particularly liked the fact that Nicks sought to juxtapose his underdog 2006-2009 collegiate basketball career at Davidson College in North Carolina with the Warriors’ comeback chew-your-nails-to-itty-bits 2021-2022 season. Factor in the talent backing the documentary, recently released on Apple TV+, and one of the greatest basketball players of all time was all in.

“This one made the most sense because from a top level it was closing in on 15 years of our Elite Eight (appearance at the regional final round of the NCAA Division) we had at Davidson,” Curry said during a Zoom interview promoting the documentary, which debuted at January’s Sundance Film Festival, where Curry attended with Nicks, Coogler and others.

Other reasons that contributed to clinching the deal included a collaborative desire to impart positive messages in the documentary about achieving one’s goals, and about persevering and triumphing when seemingly everyone expects you to fail.

“It was the through line of me trying to complete my Bachelor’s degree since I had left early in my third year and fulfilling that promise to Coach (Bob) McKillop and my mom,” he adds. “It was also just a moment of reflection on all the things that I learned and the underrated mindset I had developed pre-Davidson, but that exposed itself though those three years. And some of the other themes and lessons that I took away from those formative years at Davidson. All that, you know, I think took the success that I’ve had in the league and gave it a home of why it mattered, why it would be impactful.”

While the 35-year-old father of three, whose family lives in Atherton, hopes “Underrated” inspires young athletes, he dually hopes it appeals to “anybody from any walk of life” who has felt undervalued and is able to “adopt that underrated mindset as a badge of honor.”

Davidson coach McKillop, now retired, was one such person who saw something special in Curry even though skeptics thought the player was too short and didn’t possess the right stuff to be a star. Curry played for three seasons at Davidson from 2006-2009 before leaving for the NBA in his senior year.

The moving bond between McKillop and Curry, and Davidson’s astonishing 2008 NCAA Tournament run, play commanding roles in Nicks’ feature. Both on and off the court, McKillop and Curry have high praise and respect for each other.

“Steph checked every box in the area of character, work ethic, toughness, and coachability,” McKillop said in an email. “His shooting, ball-handling skills, and basketball IQ were easily evident. His capacity to live in the moment because of his tough-minded emotional makeup and his selfless spirit heightened his ability to transcend time. He learned and consistently demonstrated the ability to be in the present moment while seeing one step ahead into the future, and did it all at the same time.”

Curry found McKillop to be a perceptive coach and mentor who saw his potential and challenged him in all the right ways.

“He did it with a perspective that I was good enough … (that) I didn’t need to change. I needed to continue to be myself. … From a leadership perspective, he’s like a master at connecting to the human being and not just the athlete.”

Curry also praises “Underrated” director Nicks — known for the acclaimed Oakland documentary trilogy “The Waiting Room,” “The Force” and “Homeroom” — and says the award-winning filmmaker did an unbelievable job, particularly when tagging along during the Warriors’ crazy 2021-22 season while allowing everyone to “exist in these spaces and still be present and be human in the process.”

But Nicks said he had doubts about making the documentary when the idea was floated his way.

“I almost didn’t do it,” he admits. His reticence was due to the flood of celebrity and music documentaries that were coming out at the time. And unlike his previous films, which take a cinema vérité look at governmental institutions, this one would focus on one person who would be partnering with him to tell the story. But as Nicks got to know Curry and his story he was won over and wanted to shape it partly as a coming-of-age story “that had not been told before.”

The documentary is coming out at a time when people are still talking about two recent remarkable sporting feats – Curry’s win and hole-in-one in the Tahoe tournament and tennis player Carlos Alcaraz’s stunning Wimbledon title victory at the age of 20.

Since Alcaraz is so young and Curry is so familiar with fame, does he have any wisdom to impart to the young Spanish player about dealing with sudden fame and public attention?

“Stay true to who you are and what got you there — first and foremost,” he said, adding it’s crucial to strike a balance between living in the public eye and living your real life, and being aware of “people taking bits and pieces of you away from the main thing.”

He finds that what he has learned “going through these last 14-plus years in the league is the behemoth of the platform as it grows. It can eat away at your joy for what you do and you can tell Alcaraz plays with joy. I was out there on the golf course playing with joy. I play with joy on the basketball court. I have been trying to be intentional, intentional about maintaining that because once that flame goes down then it’s hard to light back up and reclaim.”

There is little doubt, when you play back that video of Curry’s hole-in-one, that there’s a lot of joy going on — along with surprise. He admits he did have a “blackout moment and didn’t know what he was doing” after sinking that one in.

“Somebody asked me like, ‘What’s a better feeling, you hitting a game-winning three pointer or making a hole-in-one? I was like well the hole-in-one for sure because you don’t ever expect to make one. Let alone on TV. Let alone in a tournament like that. If I’m (taking) a game-winning three pointer, as soon as I shoot it, I’m like, that better go in.”