The Hot 8 for ’08: A Look Where Pop Culture is Heading (and It’s Not More Celebrity Gossip)

By Rachel Leibrock, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Jan. 1–Wow. What a year it was. In fact, we’re a bit fatigued just thinking about 2007 and all of its go-go-go nature, from going green to going crazy about celebrities.

But, while we’re all for saving the Earth, we’ve had it up to here with Britney Spears.

You, too?

“I think we’re all hoping things (in the celebrity world) will calm down,” says Dina Sansing, entertainment director at that popular pop-culture barometer, US Weekly.

Indeed, she predicts from her Los Angeles office that 2008 will be the year we all say “enough is enough” with such outrageous pursuits.

What other trends or noteworthy events should we expect in 2008 — in Sacramento and beyond?

Here’s The Bee’s list of “The Hot Eight for ’08.”

DINING

What’s hot: Ella Dining Room and Bar, brought to downtown Sacramento (1131 K St.) by the energetic Selland family, whose earlier culinary contributions have been dinner as theater at The Kitchen and the old-time-deli-given-a-California-spin in Selland’s Market Cafe.

What makes it sizzle: All the dining trends of the moment come together at Ella with glamour and finesse: the return of the community table, an updated version of family service, the fashionable cooking technique sous vide, the move to downplay traditional entrees in favor of a wider range of small plates that encourage experimentation and grazing, a monumental devotion to rare wines, and the gung-ho use of regional and seasonal provisions in the cooking.

Hot tip: A central bar, a sexy lounge and the spreading message that Ella is a place to see — and be seen — are prompting Sacramentans to turn out as if they were hitting the coolest restaurant in San Francisco.

–Mike Dunne, Bee restaurant critic

MUSIC

What’s hot: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, April 4 at Arco Arena.

What makes it sizzle: Anytime The Boss comes to town is as big a deal as it gets for local rock concerts. Springsteen and company are touring behind “Magic,” which was somehow denied Grammy consideration for album of the year. But don’t expect to witness sour grapes come April. By then, it’ll just be time to rock ‘n’ roll.

Hot tip: Tickets go on sale Jan. 19; details on prices to come soon. For more information: TicketMaster at (916) 649-8497 or www.ticketmaster.com.

–Chris Macias, Bee pop music critic

FASHION

What’s hot: Designers will be working off eye-catchingly bright shade palettes that include Spring Crocus and Freesia.

What makes it sizzle: Can you say “flower power”?

Hot tip: What goes with a floral frock? How about a pair of lime-green, patent-leather high-heeled Crocs? Really!

–Leigh Grogan,

Bee fashion writer

MEDIA

What’s hot: Amazon’s Kindle ($399 at Amazon.com), the latest generation in e-book technology.

What makes it sizzle: Say you’re going on a two-week trip and, being the bibliophile that you are, you want to take a stack of books along. An e-book device allows you to save space in your luggage for more important things, like sunscreen. The device itself is a rectangle of white plastic that goes from thick to thin, kind of imitating the shape of a real book. It has the heft of a paperback.

Hot tip: Kindle comes with a built-in store that lets users choose from 90,000 books. You can download the books with a wireless connection from anywhere directly onto the Kindle. Also, you can get e-subscriptions to select newspapers, magazines and blogs to read on the device.

–Sam McManis,

Bee staff writer

MOVIES

What’s hot: “The Dark Knight,” opening July 18.

What makes it sizzle: Director Christopher Nolan’s sequel to the excellent “Batman Begins” unleashes Heath Ledger as The Joker. For those of us who are diehard Ledger fans, this gives “The Dark Knight” a slight edge over “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” (out May 22) as the most-anticipated film of the summer. That, and its more manageable title.

Hot tip: We’re looking at a summer movie season with offerings for people over 25 and even (gasp!) women. “Sex and the City: The Movie” will revel in fruity cocktails and overpriced heels on May 22, and “Mamma Mia!,” with Meryl Streep as the freewheeling mama in question, is in theaters July 18.

–Carla Meyer, Bee movie critic

THEATER

What’s hot: Capital Stage’s production of “The Typographer’s Dream” by Adam Bock, opening July 12.

What makes it sizzle: Bock is the playwright of the moment on both coasts, with buzzworthy productions in New York (“The Receptionist”) and Berkeley (“The Shaker Chair”). Also, Sacramento-based actor Jamie Jones performed in the West Coast premiere of “The Typographer’s Dream” when it opened in San Francisco in 2005.

Hot tip: Tickets are $11-$26. For more information: (916) 995-5464 or capitalstagecompany.com.

–Marcus Crowder, Bee theater critic

BEAUTY

What’s hot: Boomers may still be keeping their eyes — and skin — peeled on anything and everything anti-aging. But Southern Beauty magazine recently published a poem called “Lines of Life,” which puts Botox and other injectables into perspective.

What makes it sizzle: An excerpt from the poem: “Some may complain about the lines that remind them of their strife. But I say, a woman without lines is one without life.”

‘Nuff said.

Hot tip: Organics — we’ll be hearing more about standards for natural beauty products. Stay tuned.

–Leigh Grogan

WEB

What’s hot: A sleeker, faster, e-mail-free Internet. Yes — you read that right — e-mail-free. Certainly, according to the folks at Slate.com, the kids think e-mail is so 1998. Instead, ‘tweens, teens and 20-somethings are increasingly relying on instant messaging and cell phone texting to get their points across.

What makes it sizzle: The new mind-set doesn’t stop at e-mail. Remember how, in the ’80s and ’90s, cable streamlined broadcast TV by “narrowcasting” channels into specialized interests? Well, watch the Web become even more you-centric as social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn continue to gain in popularity over traditional, general-interest portals such as Yahoo and Google.

Hot tip: Your iPhone, Kindle electronic reader or even plain-Jane cell phone is all you’ll need to be freed from the chains of that clunky desktop or weighty laptop. Yes, the revolution will be in miniature.

–Rachel Leibrock

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Copyright (c) 2008, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

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